re. anyte. no black outs. no restrictions on airfare and hotels. ultimate rewards is available on chase credit, debit and business cards. chase what matters. good morning. breaking news. at least three people dead, over 50 homes destroyed after a massive explosion rips through a neighborhood outside san francisco. a fire ball more than a thousand feet in the air had residents running for safety. we're live on the scene. will he or won't he? the controversial florida pastor who threatened to burn the koran calls it off and then announces it may still happen. so what now? we'll ask him in an interview. and al the musical. cleanup in al four. al roker slices, dices an dances his way through his first job in a supermarket today, friday,

september 10th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today." it's 7:00 a.m. pacific time on a friday. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith vieira. it looked like hell on earth in the city of san bruno last night. >> firefighters are pouring water on the smoldering wreckage after a huge explosion on thursday night sent flames ripping through a residential neighborhood. it appears that a ruptured gas main is to blame for this disaster. at least 20 people were injured. some of those had critical injuries. and the death toll is expected to rise. >> one fire captain says by the time his firefighters arrived, dozens of homes had already been consumed by the flames, even though the fire station is only a few blocks away. >> i want to get straight to

migu miguel almaguer who is on the scene. >> reporter: at least 75 people were rushed to the hospital overnight, some with critical conditions. we now know at least three people have died. that number could go up. some 53 homes are a complete loss. more than 100 others are damaged. as you mentioned, it's believed a ruptured gas line may have been the reason behind the explosion. one witness describing the scene as, quote, hell on earth. the explosion ripped through san bruno just before 7:00 local time, the dinner hour in the suburb just south of san francisco. a blast so violent some thought it was an earthquake or, worse, a jetliner crash. it was neither. >> i went out and seen this big fire ball. the first thing i thought was oh, god, something went up. and it was intense. the flames. >> reporter: a monster gas-fed fire ball with flames shooting as high as 100 feet into the air was burning so hot it obscured everything around it. asphalt melted, windows shattered, the sky turned black

and the sound, what witnesses described as a roaring and a groaning, could be heard for miles. >> it just shook your body. you could feel the intensity of the fire. i've never felt anything like it. >> reporter: as twilight turned to night, the fire's footprint continued to grow. it wasn't one house or two, it was dozens engulfed in a wind-whipped, gas-fueled fury. to make matters worse, the explosion may have ripped through the neighborhood's water main, making a nearby fire hydrant unusable. >> even if we had that water supply, we could not have extinguished that fire until the gas line was shut down. >> reporter: with temperatures in the thousands of degrees, the only way in was from the air. firefighting planes roared overhead, dumping retardant in the middle of single lane streets to keep the fire from spreading. helicopters made targeted assaults from one rooftop to another, but so much had already been lost and the fire's fuel

seemed neverending. >> we have declared a disaster, a local disaster in the city of san bruno, which has been confirmed through the state. and we will be accessing federal resources. >> reporter: soon it looked more like a raging grass fire, not the middle of a crowded neighborhood. a string of burning embers lit up the night, a fiery domino ii sin rating block after block. throughout the night firefighters struggled to get the upper hand on the inferno. as one fire burned itself out, a fresh one would start. the city's fire chief says he's never seen anything like it. >> no, and i don't want to again. >> reporter: although the cause of the fire remains uncertain, the local gas company, pg&e, acknowledged that one of its gas transmission lines had ruptured. >> if the investigation were to turn up that some of our facilities were involved in this, we will do what's right. >> reporter: as the fire slowly

turned from an inferno into something still terrible, but manageable, rescuers began driving street by street looking for anyone trapped or injured. but fire crews say getting to the epicenter of the explosion probably won't happen until later today. a crater in the middle of a neighborhood that will never be the same. over the last few days, some neighbors had reportedly complained of a smell of gas in the air. that is being investigated. meantime search dogs will head up to the blast site to look for anyone who didn't make it out. matt. >> miguel, thank you very much. earlier this morning i spoke to san bruno resident bob pellegrini who was sitting at home watching a football game when his house was rocked by that explosion. he was just one house away from where the explosion occurred. i started by asking him what he saw and what he felt. >> we were in the middle of watching the game, you know, in the first quarter. all of a sudden the house started vibrating. not shaking like an earthquake, but like vibrating.

and we couldn't understand why. then all of a sudden we seen this big orange plume go up. and it had a thunderous sound to it when it was going off. and i looked outside and i went "holy mackerel!" . the glass, i felt the door and it wasn't hot but the glass on the door was extremely hot. i said i don't think we can stay here because you could see bits of the asphalt all over the front of the house. and what we did was we actually put my shoes on and i started to see the windows crack from the intense heat. not from the fire itself, but from the heat. and what i did was we ran out the back of the house, went around the gate and the fence was already on fire. and we dragged my dog, gus, a bulldog, out and went up and around the corner. then i thought we'd left my brother in the house because he was still in there. he was looking for us. once he discovered we were gone, i guess he went the other way and i thought i'd lost him.

but fortunately i seen him pop up on the back of the street on the other side, we came up two opposite streets, so -- >> let's make the point, everybody in your home got out safely, and that's very good news. tell me about this house, though. this was your parents' house. i know that you grew up there and moved back in after your mom passed away. >> yes. >> had just remodelled it? >> right. >> what was it like to see it in flames? >> heart-wrenching. it really was. it was hard to watch. but the main thing is my intermediate family got out. the other things can be rebuilt and other things can be, you know, replaced, but you can't replace family members. >> where are you going to go from here, bob? where are you going to stay? >> oh, i got wonderful friends, wonderful friends that have offered homes for me to stay in,

cars to drive. a friend of mine, bert, offered me a house to stay in and gave me a truck if i need it. we're staying with some wonderful friends, dave and jeanette siva, who are like family to us and they're allowing us to stay at their house, which is where my wife and my son and my dog are right now. and we're blessed. >> well, you're lucky to be alive. our thoughts and prayers are with you and everybody else from your neighborhood. >> i appreciate it, matt. >> all right, bob pellegrini, thanks very much. let's get the latest on the investigation into this disaster from jim ruane, the mayor of san bruno. mr. mayor, good morning to you. >> good morning to you. >> most importantly, what's the latest? have you accounted for everybody? i know they have been going street to street. are there still some residents unaccounted for? >> we don't know the full count and we won't know until sometime tomorrow morning or later this morning, actually, when the sun comes up. late last evening it was way too

hot and too dangerous for the firefighters and the first responders to get into that neighborhood and actually assess the total amount of damage. but we do expect a number of more fatalities. >> still the investigation goes on as to what exactly caused this. i know there is some kind of a ruptured transmission line there, but we don't know if that's the exact cause. but look at the numbers here. we have one fatality, 50 homes destroyed, 120 damaged. you lived in that town for, i think, over 30 years. what's going to happen to that community? >> hard to say right now. we're right in the throes of taking care of the people we had to evacuate, making sure that they have accounted for all of their family members, getting them assistance, getting them aid, setting up hot lines, doing all the things we have to do to assist them when the sun comes up later this morning. it's a very difficult procedure and the first response from this whole county as well as san francisco has been absolutely incredible. >> well, as i said to mr.

pellegrini, mr. mayor, our thoughts and prayers are with all the people in san bruno. >> i appreciate that. as i told the first responders earlier today, and early at a news conference for all who are listening, say a special prayer for those people today. thank you. >> you've got it. mayor, we appreciate it. here's meredith. thank you very much. now to the questions and the controversy surrounding a fringe florida church's plan to burn the koran on 9/11. president obama is expected to talk about it in a news conference in less than an hour and we will have that for you live. on thursday the church's pastor called the planned burning off after worldwide appeals, but now he says he's not so sure. we'll hear from him in just a moment. but first nbc's carrie sanders is in gainesville with the very latest. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. very, it is unclear. at the moment it appears that pastor terry jones will not be burning the korans here tomorrow because he's going to be in new

york city. as you see at the last moment he connected burning those korans with the controversial construction of a mosque near ground zero. the white house and so many others had waited days to hear these words. >> we have agreed to cancel our event on saturday. >> reporter: thursday evening, pastor terry jones said he was cancelling the koran burning, because the imam building an islamic cultural center in lower manhattan had just agreed to move it. >> i will be flying up there on saturday to meet with the imam at the ground zero mosque. he has agreed to move the location. that, of course, cannot happen overnight. but he has agreed to move that. >> reporter: then the confusion. the florida imam who stood at pastor jones' side said he had not brokered a deal to move the new york mosque, he had simply arranged a meeting. >> i have made this morning contact with the office of imam

raul and got the commitment to fly up to new york and meet with him in the company of pastor jones. >> reporter: it didn't take long in new york for imam raul to announce i'm glad he's decided not to burn any korans. however, i have not spoken to pastor jones or imam musry. i am surprise bide their announcement. i asked pastor jones if he felt like he had been misled by the imam in florida. >> yes, of course. i don't feel tricked. i was lied to. >> reporter: did imam musri lie? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: pastor jones, seemingly baffled by the turn of events, announced he suspended but has not cancelled the plan to burn the korans on saturday. >> we're a little bit, not totally, but we're a little bit back to square one. >> reporter: then this morning another decision. >> as of right now, the event

has been cancelled, yes. >> reporter: as all this plays out in the holy month of ramadan ends with the 9/11 anniversary now a day away, protests around the world continue. in pakistan and afghanistan, they burned american flags chanting "death to america." president obama called the pastor's plan a stunt that puts u.s. troops in danger. >> we have just i you had a global -- issued a global travel alert. >> reporter: the state department issued a travel caution to u.s. citizens. u.s. embassies are on alert. some fear that damage to the u.s. reputation in the muslim world is already done. pastor jones received a personal phone call from the secretary of defense, robert gates, and that appeared to seal the deal. then everything fell apart. now with the pastor going to new york to hopefully meet with the imam of that cultural center that's going to be built there,

it appears that at least tomorrow there won't be any bonfire with these korans. meredith. >> kerry sanders, thank you very much. let's talk to the man at the center of the controversy, pastor terry jones. good morning to you. >> yeah, good morning. good morning. >> there has been so much confusion here, pastor. first you said you were going to burn first, you said you were going to burn the korans. then you said that plan had been canceled. then yesterday, again, later yesterday you said it had been suspended. so, where are we at? what do you plan to do? are you going to burn those korans on saturday? >> well, i think the confusion has not really come from us, it's come from the fact that i was told something, i was lied to. the imam came to me yesterday, after hearing a radio broadcast that i did where i mentioned that we would be willing to cancel our event, something that the muslim world wants to happen, if they would be willing to cancel or move the ground zero mosque, something that the

american world wants to be done. and he came to me with that proposal. i said, yes, we will do that. we are supposed to fly up and meet the imam either today or tomorrow. and then later on -- >> he said -- i asked -- >> then he took that back. >> exactly. he said that he never made that promise to you, that he tried to broker a -- >> that is not true. >> that is not true? he told you directly that the imam -- >> that is absolute -- >> he told you directly that the imam in new york had said that he would not build a mosque near ground zero in return for you not burning the korans? >> that is exactly what he told me. i have witnesses that are there. i asked him three or four times, and that's exactly what he said. i said let me make this clear. if we cancel our event on saturday, then the mosque in new york city will be moved from its present location? he said, yes. there was absolutely no doubt about it. >> well, if that is off the table then, do you plan, then,

to burn the korans on saturday? >> right now, we plan to meet with the imam on saturday. if we meet with him on saturday, then, of course, we will not burn the korans, no. >> but i thought that meeting was not going to happen now. you're confuse -- i'm still very confused by what you're saying. i thought you said that meeting is not going to happen. >> yeah. that is the problem. that is the problem. i am sorry to say, the man is lying. he asked me yesterday, when would you like to meet with the imam, on friday or saturday? i said i do not want to meet on friday. i would like to meet him on saturday. he said, okay, that meeting will take place. these are the things exactly what he told me. based upon that, i trusted him and believed him. if he is now changing it, then he is not telling the truth. >> yesterday, the secretary of defense, gates, he called you personally, and he said please do not go through with this because you are risking lives if you do. what did you respond to him? >> i told him that we were taking it very, very serious.

we have been contacted by many people. we take that danger very, very seriously, and i told him that we were definitely praying about it and reconsidering. >> but today, sir, in afghanistan, a man was shot dead when protesters, angry over your plan to burn korans, attacked a nato base. do you feel that you bear any responsibility for what happened? >> we do not feel we bear responsibility, no. we feel what has actually happened is that we have brought an awareness. it is very clear that islam, that radical islam is much more dangerous, violent and radical than we ever thought. they are doing things, although we have done nothing. it has just been an excuse for violence. >> -- hatred and bigotry, don't you expect this kind of an outcome? you've incited this. >> we did not. we do not feel responsible. we did not pull the trigger. it reveals the true nature of

islam. people burn all the time bibles, they burn the flag. americans do not go around killing them. christians do not go around killing them, whether they burn one bible, 10,000 bibles. we do not do that because that is not our nature. >> well, there are people -- >> i think we need to look here at who is actually responsible for that. >> there are people of all faiths, sir, today who are calling you intolerant, bigotrous, dangerous, even calling you crazy. what are you? >> i am just a man who is trying to do what god has told us to do. one of those things, we feel, is to shed a light, to take the cover off, to take the blinders off, and to really look at how dangerous, violent islam is. we have to get our head out of the sand. >> and if what you're doing results in people dying, so be it?

>> not at all. that would be absolutely, absolutely terrible. that is what we do not want. >> well, it's already happened. >> we are even surprised. we are even surprised by the violence of islam. we did not kill anybody. islam is killing people. we need to realize, we need to wake up and see the danger. >> pastor terry jones, thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. let us now move over to the news desk. ann's standing by. she's got the other stories of the morning. good morning. >> good morning to you, matt and meredith, and good morning, everybody. there is concern this morning about a wildfire burning since monday in the foothills near boulder, colorado, that it could spread to the city of boulder itself because of erratic winds. about 170 homes have already been destroyed there and the fire is just only half contained. philadelphia police say a woman suspended from her job last night at a kraft foods plant returned minutes later and shot three people, killing at least two of them.

she was arrested after the standoff. officials in iran who announced thursday that they will release captive american hiker sarah shourd tomorrow have not mentioned anything about the two other hikers, shane bauer and josh fattal. the three young americans have been held for more than a year, accused of crossing into iran illegally. a federal judge struck down the military's ban on openly gay service members on thursday. the judge said that she will issue an order to stop enforcement of the don't ask, don't tell policy, which she has ruled violates the rights of gays and hurts military readiness. u.s. marine commandos stormed a german cargo ship off the coast of somalia on thursday, overpowering pirates who had seized the ship and 11 crew members days earlier. no shots were fired. a foiled bank robbery in wisconsin has police looking for a gunman who got away on wednesday, even after he was grabbed from behind by a customer and wrestled to the ground. and the new orleans saints defeated the minnesota vikings

14-9 in last night's nfl season opener here on nbc. so, the saints are smiling today. it is now 7:20. let's now go back to matt, meredith and al. >> i'm glad that happened, because otherwise, you wouldn't be able to go back to new orleans. >> i know. >> a jinx. >> absolutely. >> i'm sorry you guys didn't get to stay and see it. >> i know. we were on a plane yesterday. >> we were? >> seems like we have been down there a lot lately, doesn't it? anyway, congratulations to the saints. vikings still a good team, no question about it. >> and brett favre didn't return? >> no, not yet. >> all right, very good. let's check your weather. we've got severe weather to talk about in the midwest, remnants of hermine. supercells developing out of this. could see tornadoes, golf ball-sized hail. radar showing strong storms coming out of the dakotas, also up through the mid-mississippi river valley. rainfall amounts central missouri could see anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain heavy rain also spreads down into kentucky and west virginia, tennessee as well. that's what's going on around the country.

here's what's happening . and looking live at san bruno, you can see the haze hanging over the fire site there. firefighters have been watching the weather conditions hoping the winds wouldn't kick up. that will happen right about now, we expect the winds to pick up. the strongest winds around 11:00 this morning. temperatures around average for them. here is the air quality forecast, we suspect that could change because of the fire and smoke drifting across the bay area. by noontime, temperatures around 70s. and by 4:00, 80 or so. all right, al, thanks. coming up, is he getting away with murder? questions swirling around the former "survivor" producer suspected of the death of his wife in mexico. and also, why this case has dragged on so long. first, this is "today" on nbc. advantage topical solution treats dogs...

( barking ) but destroys fleas. so ask your veterinarian for advantage, the flea specialist for gentle, but effective, flea control. as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again. still ahead, he slices, he dices, he makes a mockery of the grocery business. >> al's back at his firs aftfter your local news.

happy birthday to you. happy birthday, happy birthday... happy birthday to you.

good morning to you. 7:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. we are following developing news, the fire in san bruno mountains continues to burn this morning. neighbors are getting a first look at whether their homes are there. "today in the bay's" garvin thomas live in san bruno this morning spoke with one of the neighbors. garvin? >> laura, it was just about an hour ago that we met phil. he told us yesterday he fled his home in front of a fireball with his wife and children. we met him this morning. he was trying to get close enough to get a glimpse to see if his home was standing, but he couldn't get past this checkpoint. a short time ago, one of the neighbors in the area allowed

him into the backyard so he could look across the canyon and his house is there. phil was a bit stunned but very relieved and was going to race home or to his parents house where he stayed last night to let his family know the good news. garvin thomas, "today in the bay." >> tough news for so many people, and a distraction, the fire in the area. >> 280 southbound slowing coming past the area, smoke is visible across 280, as well as the smell of smoke is causing a distraction. 880, an accident aduncc 92 causing big slowing. we have weather after the break. [ male announcer ] jerry brown's good old days.

but what really happened? cnn -- not me -- cnn says his assertion about his tax record was "just plain wrong." jerry brown went out there and took credit for the fact that the people of california voted for proposition 13, which lowered taxes, which he opposed. and now he's going around taking credit for it. he raised taxes as governor of california. he had a surplus when he took office

and a deficit when he left. he doesn't tell the people the truth. we're watching the san bruno fire situation in the newsroom and also in the weather department. we expect the winds will pick up about now, but the peak winds will come a bit closer to the lunch time hour. hopefully not too bad for those folks out there. air quality, watching that for you as well. here is your noontime forecast, mostly 60s and 70s. >> thank you very much. more local news in a half hour.

♪ 7:30 now on this friday morning, the 10th day of september, 2010. the temperatures have cooled off here in the big apple the past couple of days, but things are going to heat up in midtown manhattan in just about an hour because one of the hottest country groups around, sugar land, will be performing live on the plaza. i'm meredith vieira here alongside matt lauer. coming up in this half hour, five items that are a big, big mark-up. if you are pinching pennies, we will show you how to save money if you absolutely, positively have to buy things like bottled water and printer ink. also ahead, you hate to view things this way, but why some homeowners' pain could be your gain, if you're looking to buy a house in areas that have been

very hard hit by this real estate crash. we're going to take you to florida, where some homes are now costing about the same as a new car. and then a little later, we will wrap up our week-long attempt to go back to our first jobs, and this time, al is headed back to queens to be the king of the grocery world. and the deli section has never been so much fun. >> look at that lady checking him out like he was crazy. >> well? >> yeah, exactly. we begin this half hour, though, with a serious story, a murder in cancun and a family's search for justice. our national correspondent, natalie morales, is following the story of the former "survivor" producer suspected in his wife's death. natalie, good morning. >> good morning to you, matt. five months ago this week, monica beresford-redman was found dead at a luxury resort in cancun, mexico. the chief suspect, her husband, bruce, a hollywood tv producer's a wanted man in mexico, but he remains free in los angeles. i recently spoke with monica's sisters to talk about the grief they face every day and the frustration they feel over the delays in this case.

>> she's so much in my head that it's like, she's around me, you know? she's still here, because i can feel her. >> reporter: jeane and carla burgos still feel deep pain over the death of heir sister, monica beresford-redman, a native brazilian who ran a successful restaurant in los angeles. how much suffering are you still five months later going through? >> i think i wasn't even really able to touch the real pain that i feel. i don't. >> and to know that five months later, you have no resolution still. >> it's so frustrating. >> reporter: in april, monica and her husband, bruce, a former producer for "survivor" and other reality shows, traveled to cancun, mexico, with their two young children, staying here at the deluxe moon palace resort. in a statement to mexican police, bruce said monica went shopping one morning and never came back. two days later, her body was

found in a sewer 90 yards away from their hotel room. >> translator: what we're finding is that everything in this investigation is revolving around bruce. >> reporter: mexican authorities consider bruce their prime suspect and told him to remain in mexico as their investigation continued. they kept his passport. but six weeks later, bruce suddenly arrived back home in los angeles to be with his two children. >> unless someone is arrested or is ordered by a judge in mexico to remain, they are free to leave, and he did so. >> reporter: days later, mexican authorities issued a warrant for bruce's arrest and a formal extradition request for the united states to return him to mexico to stand trial for murder. right now, it rests with the u.s. state department, which must initiate extradition of american citizens. how would you say the american authorities are handling this? >> they cannot accept the fact that the request for his arrest has arrived here two months ago

and nothing has been done. and when we call to ask questions and to know what's going on, give us an answer, tell us something! >> reporter: the sisters' attorney, alison triessel, is trying to get an answer, writing this letter on their behalf. you've written to secretary of state hillary clinton. >> i have. >> what are you asking for? >> we are asking that she assist the mexican authorities in carrying out their request. we're simply asking that the united states not stand in the way of mexico's pursuit of justice. >> reporter: so far, bruce beresford-redman has not spoken with the media, although in may he did release a statement, saying of his wife monica, "i am devastated at her loss and i am incensed at the suggestion that i could have anything to do with her death. i am innocent." bruce's attorney says he's prepared to surrender to a u.s. court, if necessary, but that he will fight extradition to mexico. and we should also note that a senior administration official

told nbc news this week that they are cooperating fully with mexican authorities on the beresford-redman case and are proceeding carefully according to american laws on extradition. matt? >> all right, natalie. thank you very much. dan abrams is nbc's chief legal analyst. dan, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> a little bit of an unusual situation going on here. the state department's got to get involved, then the justice department. how long could this process drag on? >> it could go on for months. i think that's enormously frustrating to the people involved, i'm certain. but the reality is, first, the mexican authorities had to sort of get their ducks in a row and put together the right document to say we want you to extradite him. the state department then takes that and says, okay, we're going to look at this. and then very often, they go back. they don't just look at a document and say yes or no. they'll go back sometimes and say, wait, we need more of this, less of this, et cetera, et cetera. then if the state department thinks there's enough, then they take it effectively to the justice department where the defendant can have an opportunity to say i shouldn't be extradited at all.

>> reading the information on this this morning, i was reminded of something, that when he left mexico, he left without his passport in the first place. the mexican authorities held it. what's the legal basis for that? >> it's unclear, meaning, he is saying, his lawyer is saying that he had no legal obligation to stay in mexico. the mexican authorities say they made it clear to him that he wasn't allowed to leave, but as a practical matter now, i don't want to say it doesn't matter, but the reality is, he's now here. he's an american citizen. so, how he got here matters less. >> and the other reality is that the family of the victim here wants this guy held without bail until this is all sorted out. that's not the case right now. >> yeah, and i think it's unlikely to happen, even if the state department goes to the justice department and says, okay, we want to extradite. it's still unlikely that he would be held without bail. what would likely happen is they would take it, they would litigate it, and while -- meaning litigate it in the sense that he would be able to

actually bring witnesses to say i should not be extradited, this evidence isn't enough, et cetera. >> but your bottom line is this is going to go on for an awfully long time. >> it's going to go on for a while, but most of the time, in this kind of case, where you've got mexican and u.s. authorities who have a treaty, most of the time, someone will end up getting extradited, meaning you can fight it. there are valid reasons to fight it. these things get litigated. but most of the time in this kind of case, i would think that the extradition would probably occur. >> mr. abrams, dan, thank you very much. >> good to see you, matt. >> you, too. 7:37. let's get another check of the day's weather from mr. roker. al? >> thanks a lot, matt. and of course, we have still the hurricane season to talk about. it's now tropical depression igor, 150 miles west of the cape verde islands, winds 35 miles per hour, moving west at 13. we do expect it to strengthen, though, and by wednesday, early wednesday morning, it's a category 2 hurricane. so we're going to be keeping an eye on this. and we've got some activity just behind it as well. also, we've got an area of low n

pressure near the windward islands. 30% chance this is going to develop to a tropical storm in the next 48 hours. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. here in our neck of the woods we are watching for the wind conditions in san bruno. we suspect they will pick up. by 11:00 we could see wind conditions up to 25 miles per hour from the west. weather headlines for today, patchy clouds for this morning, mostly 50. this afternoon warmer, this weekend warming but still cool along the coastline. here is a look at your noontime forecast, mostly 70s in the bay area. weather.com online. you can also find out the weather for, of course, now that we've gotten that first football kickoff out of the way, that clears the way for "sunday night football night in america." we've got the boys coming into the redskins at fedex field.

partly cloudy, mild, temperatures 71 to 75 degrees. it's a barn-burner! it's coming up. "sunday night football night in america." matt. >> just realized the offseason was too long, al. good to have you back. still ahead, too close for comfort? the pitfalls facing moms and daughters who are best friends. but up next, are you unsentimental about $5 greeting cards? how to spot some items that are simply outrageously marked up, right after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] it's a universal gesture... ♪ a way of telling the world "you did it!"... without saying a word. introducing the mercedes-benz sls...amg. [ engine revs ]

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how much you care. choosey moms, choose jif. and then there's most complete, like what you get from centrum ultra women's, the most complete multivitamin for women. it has vitamin d, which emerging science suggests supports breast health, and calcium for bone health. centrum ultra women's. this morning on "today's consumer price check," whether you're buying movie popcorn or printer ink, you're paying more than the items cost to produce. yahoo! finance came up with the top ten consumer items you can't seem to live without, even though they come at a big cost.

laura riley is a writer with yahoo! finance. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> it's the mark-up that makes these items so expensive. >> yeah. >> yet we keep coming back for more. why is that? >> i think the packaging sizes is relatively small and the money you lay out initially isn't that much, so you don't realize you're paying an enormous mark-up. >> let's start with movie popcorn, because it is expensive to begin with, but then when you learn how much it costs to make, it's really expensive. >> it can cost $1 an ounce. if you get the kind you microwave at home, 10 cents an ounce or $1.60. the solution is microwave it at home and bring it with you. >> but at theaters, they're buying in bulk, so they're really making it up. >> really making a profit, yeah. >> i go to the store and you're so caught up in finding the perfect card, you don't realize how much you're shelling out. >> and greeting cards have a mark-up of 100% to 200%. the solution is you could either send an e-mail greeting, which blue mountain arts is the site.

just search for "greeting cards" or you can buy a box of blank cards. i found some on the internet for 9 cents a card, and write your own greeting. it's little more personal. >> all right. you go to a restaurant, you need a glass of wine or a soft drink. that goes without saying. >> yes. a new york publication found one restaurant marked up the wines 575%. >> oh, my god. so, is the solution to find a place, bring your own? >> yeah. bring your own, drink water, have the kids drink water. i always bribe my kids to drink water instead of soda because again, they'll give you free refills and then your kid is having 40 ounces of soda at dinner. >> which isn't good, either. the national restaurant association said restaurant menus include a range of options so guests can select items that fit their taste, preferences or budget. in your case, get the water. >> get the water. >> but not the bottled water, because that is a real mark-up. >> no, not the bottled water. bottled water can cost ads much as $5.20 a gallon. that's 870 times the price of tap. and what's important to know here -- >> sometimes it is tap. >> and sometimes it is tap. congress held hearings last year

and found 45% of bottled water actually comes from municipal taps. now, they filter it a little bit more, but if you want filtered water, buy a $30 pitcher. even with those costs of the filters included, you're talking about 16 cents a gallon, not $5. >> and finally, ink cartridges for a printer, those refill cartridges. i don't know how you get around this one, because you need this. >> well, the solution is to buy based on the life of the ink, not the cost of the printer, because they'll sell you the printer for $30, but the ink will cost you 500% of the cost of the printer over a lifetime. one consumer group found we waste $6 billion a year on printer ink by buying the cheapest machine and not buying the machine that uses the ink most efficiently. >> yeah. i have to say, we did reach out to various trade associations, and some products they said cost more because they involve more elaborate manufacturing processes or more expensive material. the key here really is comparison shopping and buying in bulk whenever possible. do you agree with that? >> yeah, and bring your own, when you can. >> exactly.

laura rowley, thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, from massive mark-ups to bargain basement sales, florida real estate you can snap up for less than the price of a new car, right after this. maybe you want school kids to have more exposure to the arts. maybe you want to provide meals for the needy. or maybe you want to help when the unexpected happens. whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer, or donate for the caus you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference.

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up to 1.8 healthy years. [ barks ] long live your buddy. oh, max! long live your dog. purina puppy chow and purina dog chow. the nationwide real estate bust has hit the state of florida especially hard, driving prices there into the ground. but nbc's michelle kosinski found some people turning lemons into lemonades. she's in pompano beach. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. a real estate investor just bought this big three-bedroom near the beach for $63,000. it was once worth about four times that. now, she fixed it up and plans to flip it for around $135,000, but you have to admit, these deals are a mixed bag. they go fast. some are in great condition, others unspeakable. but the young families who often then end up buying these to live in are ecstatic, because finally, they can afford something. >> can you smell the money? >> reporter: investors follow their noses on to a foreclosure

tour bus. >> the bank took it. >> reporter: a hot pursuit of bargain basement homes to buy on the spot. this time there's one priced so low, even they can't believe it. >> i've never seen anything quite like it in my life. >> reporter: however, this truly is hard to believe. >> all this was enclosed without a permit. windows, drywall. it's even raining in the house right now. >> reporter: well, this is what you get in a four-bedroom for the price of something with four wheels. >> this is crazy. >> reporter: once worth around $250,000. when some people walk in and they see hell, you guys see -- >> smell the money. >> reporter: you smell money in there? >> yeah, absolutely. all cash, as is, quick close, and that's how you buy. >> reporter: like friendly vultures, taking over the remains of south florida's property boom and bust. >> put in french doors. >> reporter: laura trebatch is smiling again. in december, she lost her corporate banking job to the gasping economy, so got her real

estate license and bought her first investment -- three bedrooms, $47,000. ho sold it for $99,000. >> wow, this is amazing. >> reporter: laura bought one home for $38,000. now working on her fourth flip. here's what it looked like before, and today. >> i'm very proud of this one. >> reporter: with hundreds of thousands of foreclosures in south florida in the last three years, there are still plenty out there. for example, just in palm beach county, these are all of the foreclosures that sold in one week's time. this three-bedroom snapped up for $52,000. this beautiful four-bedroom, $100,000, which was rehabbed and sold for $185,000. >> i love it. >> reporter: buying low, selling low, making those who could never afford a home before, like first-year dental student michael gertsman -- >> this is the bedroom. >> reporter: -- very happy. he bought a three-bedroom condo walking distance to school for $100,000, less than half what it was once worth. now it costs him less than rent

would. >> i'm looking forward to, you know, many happy years and a lot of good times here. >> reporter: home, sweet home. >> it sure is. >> reporter: the inventory of homes and condos on the market in south florida has dropped by about a third in the last year, and people are finding mortgages. now, of course, the situation that brought us here is sad, but many now see this as a win-win, because the bank is getting rid of a toxic asset, the realtors working, the investor's working, the home buyer gets a deal and the neighborhood is improved. matt? >> michelle kosinski. thank you very much. still ahead, al goes back to his first job working at a grocery store. remember that, al? >> yes. i would rather forget it and so would they. >> in queens? >> in queens. it's not there anymore. gives you an idea. >> maybe because of you.

we continue to cover the fire in san bruno and the aftermath. lieutenant governor abe maldonado is acting governor this morning as governor schwarzenegger is out of japan on business. he is about ready to hold a news conference concerning the san bruno fires. >> i'm the secretary of the california emergency management agency, we are charged with coordinating the overall mutual response to these disasters. this has been an incredible tragedy and certainly an inferno, and we have been working hard with fair, law enforcement, emergency medical services, the red cross, volunteers, and members of the community and our political leadership from the mayor and

all of the folks i have behind me here. let me introduce some of them for you. we have with us today mayor jim ruang, vice mayor, rico medina, council member ken berra, council member irene o'connell, council member, michael salazar, city manager connie jackson, police chief neil selford, police chief den anything haag, chris johns from pg&e. we are joined today by senator leland ye, senator jerry hill who represents this district as well, and of course one of my most important partners, harold brooks from red cross.

as we closely monitor and responded with state and local assets to this tire, abe maldonado, our lieutenant governor and acting governor in the absence of governor arnold schwarzenegger has been an important partner with this and leadership role, after we had the local state of emergency declared, we also declared a state of emergency for the -- by the state. lieutenant governor and acting governor maldonado also directed me to reach out to fema and ask for federal management assistance grants because of the size and scope of this fire. i'm pleased to announce last night our team of partners that they granted that, which will help us in the operational costs. so it's my pleasure to introduce to you my friend and our partner, lieutenant governor abe maldonado. >> good morning, everybody. as you know governor

schwarzenegger is in asia this morning. i talked to him about 25 minutes ago. kept him on par with what's happening in san bruno, i asked him if he needed me to say anything, he said to thank the men and women on the front lines helping the people of san bruno. so i'm here to do that. i also want to thank the mayor, who, when i came here late last night, he was here with a sad face, because this is a horrific tragedy. our hearts go out to those impacted by this horrible disaster, without warning many of these peoples lives have been changed forever, and my deepest prayers go out to everyone. we know a natural gas line ruptured yesterday around 6:24 p.m. but we don't know what caused it or what happened. we will find out soon. here's what we do know now, the

fire has burned 15 acres in the city of san bruno, it is 75% contained, 38 structures have been destroyed, seven structures have been damaged, we have had 52 patients, three critical burned folks that have gone to the hospital with third degree burns. four firefighters have been transported to the hospital. four people have been killed. and we have one shelter at this moment open at the evacuation center with approximately 25 people as of this morning. i want to say what we did last night. we deployed 67 pieces of fire p apparat apparatus, including it 21 fire engines, 18 cal fire engines, 20 mutual aid engines, four air

tankers which were very, very important that were deployed immediately here to san bruchez bruno, one helicopter, many water tenders, this morning we have 12 canines on site. today, we are deploying 30 more engines to san bruno. california emergency management agency opened the coastal regional emergency operation center and the state operation center in sacramento last night. people that approved a fire management assistance grant, is that will help pay for the firefight. the city of san bruno last evening proclaimed a local emergency, and right after the city proclaimed a local emergency, i, with extraordinary impact of this disaster, declared a state of emergency last evening for those effected by opening the door to pay for firefighting and recovery.

i also want to thank the local volunteers, the red cross, and everybody who has been here to help. i want to say a few words just briefly in spanish on what we do know right now. [ speaking spanish ] >> we are taking a break from the press conference for a moment from abe mall dodonado. he is acting governor this morning because governor schwarzenegger is out of the area on business to asia. line

morning. >> we are going to continue to follow this, as well as the press conference this morning. we're also waiting -- news conference, press conference this morning from the president of the united states. we're going to go to washington this morning to hear what he has to say. there is the podium as they're waiting the president's arrival

this morning, as well as the press corps that is waiting. we'll continue to watch this until the president appears there in the white house this morning, as well as keep you updated on the developing breaking news in san bruino, of course, hitting so close to home for us in the bay area with several people losing their homes when a gas main completely ruptured last night about 6:15 in the evening, sending a fireball into the sky and completely destroying some homes there. the "today" show will continue our coverage this morning. they'll have special coverage of the president in the white house this morning and we'll take that now. and big speech in cleveland to draw the distinction between the next speaker of the house john boehner and himself and show the ideas of the economy -- he walking in, and so i will leave it there. >> good morning.e.

>> good morning. before i take your questions, i just want to talk a little bit about our continuing efforts to dig ourselves out of this recession and to grow our economy. as i said in cleveland on wednesday, i ran for president because i believed the policies of the previous decade have left our economy weaker and our middle-class struggling. there were policies that cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires and cut regulations for corporations and for special interests, and left everyone else pretty much fending for themselves. they were policies that ultimately culminated in a financial crisis and a terrible recession that we are still digging out of today. we came into office with a different view about how our economy should work. and instead of tax cuts for millionaires, we believed in cutting taxes for middle-class

families and small business owners. we have done that. instead of letting the corporations play by their own rules, we believe in making sure that businesses treat workers well and consumers friendly and play by the same rules as everyone else. so, we have put in place commonsense rules that accomplish that. instead of tax breaks that encourage corporations to create jobs overseas, we believe in tax breaks for companies that create jobs right here in the united states of america. and so, we have begun to do that. we believe in investments that will make america more competitive in the global economy and investments in education and clean energy, and research and technology and we are making those investments. these are the principles that guided us over the last 19 months. these are the principles that form the basis of the additional economic proposals that i offered this week.

because even though the economy is growing again and we have anothered more than 760,000 private sector jobs this year, the whole that the recession left is huge, and the progress has been painfully slow. millions of americans are still looking for work. millions of families are struggling to pay their bills or the mortgage. and so, these proposals are meant to both accelerate job growth in the short term and strengthen the economy in the long-run. these proposals include a more generous permanent extension of the tax credit that goes to companies for all of the research and innovation that they do here in america. i propose that all american businesses should be allowed to write off all of the investments they do in 2011. this will help small businesses upgrade their plants and equipment and encourage large corporations to get off of the sidelines and start to put their

profits to work in our economy. we also announced a six-year plan to rebuild america's roads and railways and runways. already our investments in infrastructure are putting folks in the construction industry back to work. this plan would put thousands more back to work. it would help us to remain competitive with countries in europe and asia that have already invested heavily in projects like high-speed railroads, but one thing that we can do next week is end a month-long standoff on a small business jobs bill that's been held up in the senate by a partisan minority. i realize there are plenty of issues in washington where people with good faith simply disagree on principle. this should not and is not one of those issues. this is a bill that does two main things. it gives small business tax cuts, and helps them to get

loans. it will eliminate capital gains taxes for key investments in 1 million small businesses. it will provide incentives to invest and create jobs for 4 million small businesses, and lit more than double the amount that some small businesses can borrow to grow their companies. it is a bill that is paid for. it is a bill that won't add to the deficit and a bill written by democrats and republicans and a bill praised by the chamber of commerce. and yet, a minority of the republican senators have been using legislative tactics to prevent this bill from getting to a vote. i was pleased to see that yesterday, republican senator george voinovich said he would refuse to support this blockade anymore. senator voinovich said that this country is really hurting, and we don't have time anymore to play games. i could not agree more. i understand there's an election coming up.

the american people didn't send us here to think about our jobs. they sent us here to think about theirs. there are are small businesses right now putting off plans to hire more workers, because this bill is stalled. it is not the kind of leadership that this country deserves. i hope that we can now move forward to give small businesses the relief they need to start hiring and growing again. while we are on the subject of economics, i want to make an announcement ability my economic team. this week christina romer returned to berkeley after a tireless and outstanding tenure as chair of the council of economic advisers. christie is brilliant and dedicated and part of the team that helped save this country from a depression. we will miss her dearly, but today, i am happy to announce austan goolsbee as her

replacement. austan has been one of my good friends and advisers for years. he has worked as a member of the council of economic advisers since we arrived here in washington. he is not just a brilliant economist, but he is someone who has a deep appreciation of how the economy affects everyday people, and he talks about it in a way that is easily understood. he already knows and works with the team very well already, and i have complete confidence he will do an outstanding job. and finally tomorrow, we will commemorate not only the heartbreak of september 11th, but also the enduring values and the resilient spirit of america. both michelle and i will be joining our fellow citizens in remembering those who were lost on that day, and honoring all who exhibited such extraordinary heroism in the midst of tragedy. i'll have further remarks tomorrow, but for now, let me

just note that tomorrow is a national day of service and remembrance. i hope that each of us finds a way to serve our fellow citizens, not only to reaffirm our deepest values as americans, be tow rekindle the spirit of unity and common purpose that we felt in the days that followed that september morn. and now, i'd be happy to take some questions, and i'm going to start with darlene. >> thank you, mr. president. you said this week that democrats would not do well in the november elections if it turns out to be a referendum on the economy, but with millions of people out of work and millions of people losing their homes, how could it not be a referendum on the economy and your handling of it, and why would you not welcome that? >> well, what i said was that if it was just a referendum on

whether we had made the kind of progress that we need to, then people around the country would say, we're not there yet. if the election is about the policies that are going to move us forward versus the policies that will get us back into a mess, then i think that the democrats will do very well. and here is why. as i just indicated, middle-class families have been struggling for a decade, before i came into office. their wages and incomes had flatlined. they were seeing the cost of everything from health care to sending their kids to college going up. job growth was the weakest of any economic expansion between 2001 and 2008 since world war ii. the pace was slower than it has been over the last year. so, these policies of cutting taxes for the wealthiest

americans, stripping away regulations that protect consumers, running up record surplus to a record deficit. those policies finally culminated in the worst financial crisis we have had since the great depression. and for 19 months, what we have done is steadily worked to avoid a depression, to take an economy that was contracting rapidly and making it grow again and a situation where we were losing 750,000 jobs a month and now we have had eight consecutive months of private sector job growth, and made investments that are going to strengthen the economy over the long term, but we are not there yet. i mean, we lost 4 million jobs in the six months before i was sworn in. and we lost 8 million jobs total during the course of this recession.

that is a huge hole to dig ourselves out of, and people who have lost their jobs around the country and can't find one, moms who are sending out resumes and not getting calls back, worried about losing homes, not being able to pay bills, you know, they are not feeling good right now. and i understand that. i ran precisely because i did not think that middle-class families in the country were getting a fair shake, and i ran because i felt that we needed a different economic philosophy in order to grow that middle-class and grow our economy over the long term. now, for all of the progress we have made, we are not there yet. that means that people are frustrated, and that means that people are angry. and since i'm the president, and democrats have controlled the house and the senate, it is understandable that people are saying, you know, what have you

done? but, between now and november, what i am going to remind the american people of is that the policy wes have put in place have moved us in the right direction, and the policies that the republicans are offering right now are the exact policies that got us into this mess. it is not a situation where they went and reflected and said to themselves, you know what, we didn't do some things right, and so we have a whole bunch of new ideas out here we want to present to you to put us on the path of strong growth. that is not what happened. the chairman of the committee has said that we would do the exact same things before obama took office. well, we know where that led. and a perfect example is the debate we are having on taxes right now. i have said that middle-class

families need tax relief right now. and i'm prepared to work on a bill inside of a bill this month that would ensure that middle-class families get tax relief. 97% of americans make less than $250,000 a year. $250,000 a year or less. i'm saying that we can give those families 97% permanent tax relief, and by the way, for those who make more than $250,000, they'd still get tax relief on the first $250,000, but they just would not get it for income above that. now, that seems like a common sense thing to do. and what i have is the republicans holding middle-class tax relief hostage, because they are insisting that we have to give tax relief to millionaires and billionaires to the tune of about $100,000 per millionaire.

which would cost over the course of ten years $700 billion. and the economists say that is probably the worst way to stimulate the economy. that doesn't make sense, and that is an example of what this election is all about. if you want the same kinds of skewed policies that led us to this crisis, then the republicans are ready to offer that. but if you want policies that are moving us up, and even though you are frustrated and change is not happening as fast as you'd like, then i think that democrats are going to do fine in november. okay. karen? >> thank you, mr. president. you are looking for republican help on the economic proposals that you unveiled this week and

you mentioned the small business bills, but you are at odds with them for tax cuts. is there room for a middle ground whereby the tax cuts on the wealthy could be extended for a period of time and then allowed to expire? >> well, certainly, there is going to be room for discussion. my hope is that on this small business bill that is before the senate right now that we actually make some progress. i still don't understand why we didn't pass that two months ago. as i said, this was written by democrats and republicans. this is a bill that traditionally, you'd probably get 90% or 100% republican support. but we have been playing politics for the past several months, and if the republican leadership is prepared to get serious about doing something for families that are hurting out there, i would love to talk to them. now, the high income tax cuts,

my position is let's get done what we all agree on. what they have said is that they agree that the middle-class tax cuts should be made permanent. let's work on that. let's do it. we can have a further conversation about how they want to spend an additional $700 billion to give an average of $100,000 to millionaires, and that is, i think, a bad idea. if you were going to spend that money, there are a lot better ways of spending it, but more to the point, these are the same folks who are concerned about the deficits, so why would we borrow money on policies that won't help the economy and help people who don't need help? but, setting that aside, we have an area of agreement, which is let's help families out there who are having a tough time.

as i said, we could this month give every american certainty and tax relief up to $250,000 a year. every single american would benefit from that. now, people who make $250,000 a year or less, they'd benefit on all of their income. people who make $1 million would benefit on a quarter of the income, but the point is that that is something that we can agree to, and why hold it up? why hold the middle-class hostage in order to do something that most economists don't think makes sense. what i am saying, let's do what we agree to and that the americans, the american people overwhelmingly agree to which is to give certain toy famity to f

out there having a tough time. jeff freedman. >> thank you, mr. president. on the economic package that you have rolled out earlier this week. first on the business tax cuts, why did you wait until this super heated campaign season to roll it out? a lot of the critics and democrats say that clearly he is using it for political purposes, and he has no expectation that it will be passed, it is a political weapon, and why did you wait so long to get that out? and on the stimulus part, we can't get people in the white house to say it is a stimulus, and $150 billion for the roads and they avoid the word like stimulus, and they avoid the word like the plague and why is it so deeply unpopular, and if so, why it is so unpopular? >> well, let me go back to when i first came into office.

we had an immediate task which is to rescue an economy that was tipping over a cliff. we put in place an economic plan that 95% of economists say substantially helped us avoid a depression. one-third of those were tax cuts. by the way, one-third of the economic plan was tax cuts for individuals and for small businesses. so, we have this notion that we waited until now to put forward a series of plans, chip, we have just on the small business issue alone, we have cut taxes for small businesses eight times during the course of the last 18 months. so, we are hardly johnny come latelies on this issue. now, when you put all of the things that we have done together, it has made a difference. 3 million people have jobs that wouldn't have them otherwise had we not taken these steps. the economy would be in much

worse shape, but as i said before, we are not where we need to go yet which means that if we are not there yet, what else can we do. the proposals that we put forward are ones that are historically, again, garnered bipartisan support. a research and development tax credit so that companies investing research here in the united states which is part of what is going to keep us growing and keep us innovative, let's make sure that the companies are strongly incentivized to do that. making sure that they are expensing accelerated business depreciation is happening in 2011, so that if companies are sort of sitting on the sidelines right now not sure whether to invest, let's give them an incentive to go ahead and invest now to give that a jump start. on infrastructure, we have a highway bill that is

traditionally done every six years, and what we are saying is ramp up what we are doing, and let's beef it up a little bit, because we have the infrastructure all across the country that everybody from governors to mayors to economists to engineers of all political strides have said that it is holding us back from the long term competitiveness, and let's get started right now rebuilding america. in terms of paying for things, let's stop giving tax breaks to the companies shipping the jobs overseas and stop incentivizing that, and give the tax breaks to the companies investing right here in the united states of america. those are all common sense approaches, and historically you know, because you have been around this town for a long time, usually the democrats and the republicans agree on infrastructure and usually republicans and democrats agree on making sure that research and development investments are made right here in the united states, and so, let's get it done.

it has nothing to do with the notion that somehow what we did previously did not work. it worked. it just has not done as much as we need it to do. we have a long ways to go, and we are going to keep on doing it. >> so this is a second stimulus? [ laughter ] >> you know, the -- here is the -- there is no doubt that everything that we have been trying to do, everything that we have been trying to do is designed to stimulate growth and additional jobs in the economy. i mean, that is our entire agenda. so, i have no problem with people saying the spt t ing the trying to stimulate growth and hiring. isn't that what i should be doing? i would assume that is what the republicans think we should do, to stimulate growth and jobs.

and i will keep on trying to stimulate growth and jobs for as long as i am president of the united states. mr. nickels. >> it has been two months since a financial regulatory bill passed and a centerpiece of that is what you call the consumer protection bureau and yet you have not named a head. is elizabeth warren a leading candidate and if not, are you worried about some senate hurdle for her confirmation? thank you. >> this is a great opportunity to talk to the american people about what i do think is going to be hugely helpful to middle-class families in the years and decades to come, and that is a agency that has been set up, an independent agency whose sole job is to protect families in their financial transactions. so, if you are getting a credit

card, we are going to have an agency that makes sure that the credit card company can't jack up your rates without any reason. including on old balances, and that could save american consumers tens of billions of dollars just in the first couple of years. if you are out there looking for a mortgage, and we all know that part of the problem with the financial crisis was that folks were peddling mortgages that were unstable, and that had these huge balloon payments, and that people did not fully understand well, and now, there is going to be some oversight in terms of how mortgages are shaped and people are going to have to actually know what they are getting, and what they are buying into, and that will affect the economy and the individual consumers. so, this agency has the capacity to really provide middle-class families the kind of protection that has been lacking for too

long. now, the idea for this agency was elizabeth warren's. she's a dear friend of mine. she is somebody i have known since i was in law school. and i have been in conversations with her. she is a tremendous advocate for this idea. it's only been a couple of months, and this is a big task standing up this entire agency, so i will have an announcement soon about how we will move forward and, you know, i think that what is fair to say is that i have had conversations with elizabeth over the course of the last thecouple of months, but i won't make an announcement until it is relevant. >> are you concerned about the senate confirmations? >> well, i am concerned for all senate confirmations these days. because if i nominate someone

for dog catcher. >> well, elizabeth warren -- >> i was not trying to be funny. i have people who have been waiting for six months to be confirmed who nobody has an official objection to, and who were voted out of committee unanimously, and i can't get a vote on it. we have got judges who are pending, and people who are waiting to help us on critical issues like homeland security, and it is very hard when you have got a determined minority in the senate that insists on a 60-vote filibuster on every single person that we are trying to confirm. even if after we break the filibuster, it turns out they get 90 votes. they are playing games, and as senator voinovich said very well, it is time to stop playing games. all right. chuck todd.

>> given the theme of all of the answers, i just have a short question for you. how have you changed washington? >> well, i will tell you how we have changed washington. prior to us getting here, as i indicated before, you had a set of policies that were skewed towards special interests, skewed towards the most powerful and ordinary families out there were being left behind. since we have gotten here, whether it's making sure that folks who can't get health care because of pre-existing conditions can now get health care or children who didn't have coverage now have coverage, whether it is making sure that credit card companies have to actually post in understandable ways what your credit card rates are, and they can't jack up existing balances in arbitrary

ways, whether it is making sure that we have clean water and clean air for future generations, whether it is making sure that tax cuts go to families that need it as opposed to folks who don't, on a whole range of issues over the last 18 months, we have put into place policies that will help to grow a middle-class and lay the foundation for a long-term economic growth. now, if you are asking why haven't i been able to create a greater spirit cooperation in washington, i think that is fair. i'm as frustrated as anybody by it. i think that part of it has to do with the fact that when we came into office we came in under very tough economic

circumstances. i think that some of the republican leaders made a decision, you know, we are going to sit on the sidelines and let the democrats try to solve it. so we got a lot of resistance very early. i think that what is also true is that when you take on tough issues like health care or financial regulatory reform, where special interests are deeply entrenched, there's a lot of money at stake for them, and where the issues are so complicated that it drags on for a long time, you end up having a lot of big fights here in town, and it is messy. it is frustrating. and well, the -- and so, you know, there is no doubt that an option that was available to me when i came in was not to take on those issues.

i mean, we could have decided, you know what, even though we know that, that the pace of accelerating health care costs is going to bankrupt this economy and bankrupt businesses and bankrupt individuals, and even though we know that there are 30 million people and that's a growing number of people who don't have health care insurance, we could have said, that is too controversial, let's not take it on. and we could have said with respect to financial regulatory reform, you know what, we are just going to get too much resistance from the republicans, and we shouldn't take that on. i don't think that's the kind of leadership that the american people would want from their president, and, you know, are there things that i might have done during the course of 18 months that would, you know, at the margins have improved some of the tone in washington,

probably. is some of this just a core difference in approach in terms of how we move this country forward between democrats and republicans? i'd say that the answer is a lot more of the latter. ann cornbley. >> thank you, mr. president. nine years after the september 11th attacks, why are we seeing such a increase in suspicio pipd outright resentment of islam even when it is one of your priorities to improve relations with the muslim world? >> you know, i think that at a time when the country is anxious

generally and going through a tough time, then, you know, fears can surface, suspicions and divisions can surface in a society, and so i think that plays a role in it. one of the things that i most admired about president bush was that after 9/11, him being crystal clear about the fact that we were not at war with islam. we were at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted islam, had stolen its banner to carry out their outrageous acts. and i was so proud of the country rallying around that idea. that notion. we are not going to be divided by religion. we are not going to be divided by ethnicity and we are all

americans. we stand together against those who would try to do us harm. that is what we have done over the last nine years, and we should take great pride in that. and i think that it is absolutely important now for the overwhelming majority of the american people to hang on to that thing that is best in us, a belief in religious tolerance, clarity about who our enemies are. our enemies are al qaeda and their allies who are trying to kill us, but they have killed more muslims than just about anybody on earth. you know, we have to make sure that we don't start turning on each other. i will do everything that i can as long as i'm president of the united states to remind the american people that we are one nation under god, and we may

call that god different names, but we remain one nation. and you know, as somebody who, you know, relies heavily on my christian faith in my job, i understand, you know, that the passions that religious faith can raise, but i am also respectful that people of different faiths can practice their religion, even if they don't subscribe to the exact same notions that i do and that they are still good people, and they are my neighbors, and they are my friends, and they are fighting alongside us in our battles, and you know, i want to make sure that this country

retains that sense of purpose. i think that tomorrow is a wonderful day for us to remind ourselves of that. natas natasha, is she here? there you are. >> mr. president, back to the israeli and palestinian leaders are less ready for the historic compromise. president abbas said they won't recognize israel as a jewish faith, and the question is if these talks fail at an early stage, will the administration disengage or press off of your current involvement? >> president abbas and prime minister netanyahu were here last week, and they came with a

sense of purpose and seriousness and corgiality that frankly exceeded a lot of people's expectations. what they said was that they were serious about negotiating. they affirmed the goal of creating two states living side by side in peace and security. they have set up a schedule where they are going to meet every two weeks. we are actively participating in that process. secretary of state hillary clinton will be flying to the middle east for the first series of next meetings on september 14th and 15th. and so, what we have done is to bring the parties together to try to get them to recognize that the path for israeli security and palestinian

sovereignty can only be met through negotiations, and these are tough negotiations. there are enormous hurdles between now and our end point. there are going to be a whole bunch of folks in the region who want to undermine these negotiations. we saw it when hamas carried out the horrific attacks against civilians and explicitly said, we are going to try to do this to undermine the peace talks. there are going to be rejectionists who suggest that it can't happen, and there are also going to be cynics who just believe that the mistrust between the sides is too deep. we understood all of that. we understood that it was a risk for us to promote these discussions, but it is a risk worth taking. because i firmly believe that it

is in america's national security interests as well as israel's national security interests, as well as in the interests of the palestinian people to arrive at a peace deal. part of the reason that i think that prime minister netanyahu was comfortable coming here is because he has seen in the course of 18 months that my administration is unequivocal in our defense of israel's security, and we have engaged in unprecedented cooperation with israel to make sure that they can deal with any external threats, but i think that he also came here understanding that to maintain israel as a jewish state that is also a democratic state, this issue has to be dealt with. i think that president abbas came here despite great misgivings and pressure from the other side, because he understood that the window to create a palestinian state is closing, and there are a whole

bunch of parties in the region who purport to be friends with the palestinians, and yet, do everything they can to avoid the path that would actually lead to a palestinian state, and would actually lead to their goal. and so, the two parties need each other. that does not mean it is going to work. it is up to them. we can facilitate. we can encourage. we can tell them that we will stand behind them in their efforts and are willing to contribute as part of the broader international community in making this work, but ultimately the parties have to make these decisions for themselves. i remain hopeful, but this is going to be tough. i don't want anybody out there thinking that this is going to be easy. the main point i want to make is that it is a risk worth taking because the alternative is a status quo that is unsustainable. so, if these talks break down,

we will keep on trying. over the long term, it ha as the opportunity also to change the strategic landscape in the middle east in a way that would be very helpful. it would help us to deal with an iran that has not been willing to give up its nuclear program. it would help us to deal with terrorists organizations in the region. so, this is something that is in our interests. we are not just doing this to feel good. we are doing it because it will help secure america as well. jake tapper. >> thank you, mr. president. a couple of questions. first, were you concerned at all when you, when the adm administration had secretary of gates call this pastor in florida that you were elevating

somebody who is clearly from the fringe, and then more substantively on health care reform, and this is six months since health care passed, and you pledged, a, that you would bend the cost curve, and that b, democrats could cam page on this, and cms reported yesterday that the cost curve isy bending up from 6.1% to 6.3% for health care legislation, and the only democrats talking about health care legislation are running tv ads saying they voted against it. thank you. >> with respect to the individual down in florida. let me just say -- let me repeat what i said a couple of days ago. the idea that we would burn the sacred text of someone else's religion is contrary to what this country stands for. it is contrary to what this

nation was founded on. and my hope is that this individual prays on it and refrains from doing it. but, i'm commander in chief. we are seeing today riots in kabul, riots in afghanistan, that threaten our young men and women in uniform. and so, we have got an obligation to send a very clear message that this kind of behavior or threats of action put our young men and women in harm's way. it is also the best imaginable recruiting tool for al qaeda. and although this may be one individual in florida, part of my concern is to make sure that we don't start having a whole bunch of folks all across the country think that this is the way to get attention.

this is a way of endangering our troops. our sons s and daughters, fath and mothers and husbands and wives who are sacrificing for us to keep us safe. we don't play games with that. so, you know, i hardly think that we are the ones who elevated this story, but it is in the age of the internet something that can cause us profound damage around the world, and so we have the take it seriously. with respect to health care, what i said during the debate is the same thing i am saying now, and the same thing i will say three or four years from now. bending the cost curve on health care is hard to do.

we've got hundreds of thousands of providers and doctors and systems and insurers, and what we did was we took every idea out there about how to reduce or at least slow the cost of health care over time, but i said at the time, it wasn't going to happen tomorrow. it wasn't going to happen next year. it took us decades to get into a position to where our health care costs were going up six, seven or ten percent a year. so our goal is to slowly bring down those costs. now, we have done so, also, by making sure that 31 million people who are not getting health insurance are going to start getting it. and we have now implemented the first phase of health care in a

way that by the way has been complimented even by the opponents of health care reform, and it has been smooth and right now middle-class families all across america are going to be able to say to themselves starting this month, you know, if i have a kid who is under 26 and doesn't have health insurance, that kid can stay on my health insurance. if i have a child with a pre-existing condition, an insurer can't deny me coverage. if i get sick and i have health insurance, that insurance company can't arbitrarily drop my coverage. there are 4 million small businesses around the country, who are already eligible and in some cases will be receiving a 35% tax break on health care for their employees, and i have already met the small businesses around the country say because of that, i will provide health care for my employees, because i thought it was the right thing to do.

>> and the study from february predicted a 6.1% increase and now post health care, it is 6.7% increase, so it seems to have bent it up. >> well, jacob, i have not read the entire study, and maybe you have, but, you know, if you -- if what the reports are true, what they are saying is that as a consequence of us getting 30 million additional people health care at the margins, that is going to increase the costs. we knew that. we didn't think that we were going to cover 30 million people for free. but that the long-term trend in terms of how much the average family is going to be paying for health insurance is going to be improved as a consequence of health care. and so, our goal on health care is if we can get instead of health care costs going up 6% per year, it is going up at the level of inflation, and maybe

just slightly above inflation, we have made huge progress, and by the way, that is the single-most important thing we could do in terms of reducing the deficit. that is why we did it. that is why it is important, and that is why we will implement it effectively. >> and the house democrats running against health care, if you could ghent on that. comment on that. >> well, we are in a political season where every candidate out there has their own district, their own makeup, their own plan, their own message, and, you know, in an environment where we have 9.5% unemployment, you know, people are going to make the best argument they can right now and they are going to be taking polls of what their particular constituents are saying and trying to align with that oftentimes. you know, that is a how

political races work. april lange. >> thank you, mr. president. i want to ask a couple of questions. on the economy, could you discuss your efforts at reviewing history as it relates to the part of the agenda meaning lbj and dr. king, and also since senate republicans are holding up the issue of the issues can you make assurances before you leave office that those awards are funded? >> let me take the second question first for those who are not familiar, cobell and pickford relate to settlements around discrimination against minority farmers who were not oftentimes provided the same benefits as everybody else under the usda. it is a fair settlement.

it is a just settlement. we think it is important for congress to fund that settlement, and we are going to continue to make it a priority. with respect to, you know, the history of fighting poverty, you know, i got my start in public service as a community organizer working in the shadow steel plants that had been closed in some of the poorest neighborhoods on the south side of chicago. that is what led me to want to serve. and so, i am constantly thinking about how can we create ladders for communities and individuals to climb into the middle-class. now, i think that the history of anti-poverty efforts is that the most important anti-poverty effort is growing the economy

and making sure that there are enough jobs out there. single most important thing we can do. it is more important than any program that we could set up. it is more important than any transfer payment that we could have. if we can grow the economy faster and create more jobs, then everybody is swept up. into that virtuous cycle, and if the economy is shrinking and things are going badly, the folks who are most vulnerable are going to be those poorest communities. so, what we want to focus on right now is broad-based job growth, and broad-based economic expansion. we are doing so against some tough headwinds, because as i said, we are coming out of a very difficult, very difficult time. we have started to turn the corner, but we are not there yet, and so, that is going to be my central focus, how do i grow

the economy, how do i make sure that there is more job growth. that doesn't mean that there aren't some targeted things that we can do to help the communities that are especially in need, and probably the most important thing that we can do after growing the economy generally is how can we improve school systems in low income communities? i am very proud of the efforts that we have made on education reform, which have received praise from democrats and republicans. this is one area where actually we have seen some good bipartisan cooperation. the idea is very simple, if we can make sure that we have the very best teachers in the classroom, if we can reward excellence instead of mediocrity and the status quo, and if we can make sure that we are tracking progress in real

serious ways, and we are willing to make investments in the classroom and not the school bureaucracy and reward innovation, then the schools can improve. there are models out there of schools in the toughest inner city neighborhood that are now graduating kids, 90% of whom are going to college and the key is how to duplicate those, and the race to the top program has said to every state around the country, you know, instead of just getting money based on a formula, we want you to compete. show us how you are reforming your school systems to promote excellence based on proven ideas out, there and if you do that, we will reward with ysome extra money, and the competition has spurred 46 states to initiate

legislation to reform the school systems. we are very proud of that, and that is i think one of the most important things we can do. it is not just by the way, k-12, but it is also higher education. and as a consequence of a battle that we had, and it was a contentious battle in congress, we have been able to take tens of billions of dollars that were going to banks and financial intermediaries in the student loan program and said, we are going to give that money directly to students, so that, they get more help going to college. obviously, poor kids are the ones who are going to be the ones who benefit most from those programs. helen coop. >> thank you, mr. president. two questions. one on afghanistan and how can

you lecture hamid karzai about corruption when so many of these people are on the u.s. payrolls and on the middle east, do you really believe that the prime minister benjamin netanyahu should extend the settlement moratorium as a gesture to peace and if he doesn't, what are you prepared to do to stop the participants from walking? >> okay. on afghanistan, we are in the midst of a very difficult, but very important project. i just want to remind people why we are there. the day before september 11th. we are there, because that is the place where al qaeda launched an attack that killed 3,000 americans. we want to make sure that we dismantle al qaeda, and that

afghanistan is never again used as a base for attacks against americans and the american homeland. now, afghanistan is also the second poorest country in the world. it's got a lilliteracy rate of 70%. it has a multiethnic population that mistrusts oftentimes each other. it doesn't have a tradition of a strong central government. so, what we have done is to say we are going to after seven years of drift, after seven years of policies in which for example we weren't even effectively training afghan security forces, what we have done is to say, we are going to work with the afghan government to train afghan security forces so they can be responsible for their own security. we are going to promote a

political settlement in the region that can help to reduce the violence. we are going to encourage a afghan government that can deliver services for its people, and we are going to try to make sure that as part of helping mr. karzai set up a broadly-accepted legitimate government that corruption is reduced. we have made progress on some of those fronts. when it comes to corruption, and i will just give you an example. four years ago, 11 judges in the afghan legal system were indicted for corruption. this year, 86 were indicted for corruption.

we have seen afghan-led efforts that have gone after police commanders, significant business people in afghanistan, but we are a long way from where we need to be on this. every time i talk to president karz karzai, i say that as important as it is for us to help you to train your military and your police forces, the only way that you are going to have a stable government over the long term is if the afghan people feel you are looking out after them, and that means making sure that the tradition of corruption in the government is reduced. we are going to keep on putting pressure on them on that front. is it going to happen overnight? probably not. are there going to be occasions where we look and see that some of our folks on the ground have

made compromises with people who are known to have engaged in corruption? well, we are reviewing all of that constantly, and there may be occasions where that happens, and i think that you are certainly right, helen, that we have the make sure that we are not sending a mixed message here. one thing i have said to the national security team is let's be consistent in terms of how we operate across agencies. let's make sure that our efforts there are not seen as somehow giving a wink and nod to corruption. if we are saying publicly that that's important, then the actions have to match up across the board. but it is a challenging environment in which to do that. now, with respect to prime minister netanyahu and the middle east. a major bone of contention during the course of this month is going to be the potential

lapse of the settlement moratorium. the irony is that when president netanyahu put the moratorium in place, the palestinians were skeptical, and they said, this doesn't do anything. and it turns out that to prime minister's netanyahu's credit and the settlement's credit, the moratorium has actually been significant. it has significantly reduced settlement construction in the region, and that is why now the palestinians say,what, even though we were not that keen on it at first or thought it was window dressing, but it turns out that this is important to us. what i have said to prime minister netanyahu is that given so far the talks are moving forward in a constructive way,

it makes sense to extend the moratorium so long as the talks are moving forward in a constructive way, because ultimately the way to solve the problems is for the two sides to agree, what is it going to be israel? what is going to be the state of palestine. and if you can get that agreement, then, you can start constructing anything that the people of israel see fit. in undisputed areas. now i think that the politics for president netanyahu are difficult. there are a number of members of his coalition who say they do not want to continue this. so one thing i said to president abbas is that you have got to show the israeli public that you are serious and constructive in these talks so that the politics

for prime minister netanyahu, if he were to extend the settlement moratorium would be a little bit easier. and, you know, one of the goals i think that i have set for myself and for my team is to make sure that president abbas and prime minister netanyahu start thinking about how can they help the other succeed as opposed to how do they figure out a way for the others to fail, because if they are going to be successful in bringing about what they now agree is the best course of action for their people, the only way they will succeed is if they are seeing the world through the other person's eyes. that requires a personal relationship and building trust hopefully these meetings will

help to do that. okay. ann compton? >> mr. president, what does it say about the status of american's system of justice when so many of those who are thought to be plotters for september 11th or accused of suspected terrorists are still awaiting any kind of trial? why are you still convinced that a civilian trial is correct for both shaikh khalid muhammad, and why is that stalled? and will guantanamo remain open for another year? >> well, the -- you know, we have succeeded on delivering a lot of campaign promises that we made. one where we have fallen short is closing guantanamo. i wanted to close it sooner. we have missed that deadline. it is not for lack of trying.

it is because of the politics of it are difficult. now, i am absolutely convinced m is strong enough, that we should be able to convict people who murdered innocent americans who carried out terrorist attacks against us. we should be able to lock them up and make sure they don't see light of day. we can do that. we have done it before. we've got people who engaged in terrorist attacks who are in our prisons, maximum security prisons all across the country, but, you know, this is an issue that has generated a lot of political rhetoric and people

understandably are fearful, but one of the things that i think is worth reflecting on after 9/11 is, you know, this country is so resilient, and we are so tough, we can't be frightened by a handful of people who are trying to do us harm, especially when we capture them and we have the goods on the a military tribunal may be appropriate, and the reason for that is -- and i'll give a specific example. there may be situations in which somebody was captured in theatre, and is now in guantanamo, and it is very hard to piece together a chain of evidence that would meet some of the evidentiary standards that

would be required in an article iii court, but we know that the person is guilty, and there is sufficient evidence to bring about a conviction, so what i have said is that the military commission system that we set up where appropriate for certain individuals that would make it, that would be difficult to try in article iii courts for a range of reasons, we can reform that system so that it meets the highest standards of due process, and prosecute them there. and so, i'm prepared to work with democrats and republicans, and we over the course of the last year have been in constant conversations with them about setting up a sensible system in which we are prosecuting where appropriate, and those in article iii courts and

prosecuting others where appropriate through a military tribunal, and in either case, let's put thom em in prisons wh our track record is that they have never escaped. and by the way, just from a purely fiscal point of view, the cost of holding folks in guantanamo is massively higher than it is holding them in a super max, maximum-security prison here in the united states. >>. [ reporter inaudible ] >> well, i think it needs to happen. and we will work with congress on a bipartisan basis to move this forward in a way that is consistent with our standards of due process, consistent with our constitution, and consistent

with our image in the world of a country who cares about rule of law. we can't underestimate the impact of that. you know, al qaeda operatives still site guantanamo as a justification for attacks against the united states, still, to this day. and there's no reason for us to give them that kind of talking point when in fact, we can use the various mechanisms of the justice system to prosecute these folks and to make sure that they never attack us again. okay. ed henry. >> mr. president, let me ask you about some of the al qaeda leaders you have captured, but one you have not is osama bin laden who is the mastermind of

3,000 americans being killed and in seven years, neither administration was able to capture him. so you said in a quote to capture him and kill him is a symbol of stamping out al qaeda, because he is a symbol of planning attacks against the united states. do you still belief it is a critical part of the administration to capture and kill him and it is a failure of your administration where you campaigned saying you would run a smarter war on terror than the bush administration and you haven't captured him and you don't seem to know where he is. >> well, capturing and killing bin laden and zahwahiri

would be critical. as a consequence, they are holed up in ways that are harder to operate. and one things that has happened is that bin laden has gone deep underground and even zawahiri who has been out there has been even more cautious, but we have the best minds, the best intelligence officers, the best special forces who are thinking about this day and night. they will continue to think about it day and night as long as i'm president. >> so, do you think that americans will face another nine years of this terror threat? another generation? what is your mes staj? >> here, here is what i think. in this day and age, there are going to be -- there is always going to be the potential for an

individual or a small group of individuals if they are willing to die to kill other people. some of them are going to be very well organized, and some of them are going to be random. that threat is there. it is important, i think, for the american people to understand that. and not to live in fear. it is just a reality of today's world that they aare -- that there are going to be threats out there. we have greatly improved our homeland security since 9/11 occurred. i am constantly impressed with the dedication that our teams apply to this problem. they are chasing down every thread, and not just from al qaeda, but any other actor out there who might be engaging in

terrorism. they are making sure that even a what might appear to be a lone individual who has very little organizational capacity, if they make a threat, they follow up. but, one of the things that i want to make sure that we do as long as i'm president, and beyond my presidency is to understand america's strength in part comes from its resilience, and that we don't start losing who we are or overreacting if in fact there is the threat of terrorism out there. we go about our business. we are tougher than them. our families and our businesses and our churches and mosques and

synagogues and our constitution and our values is what gives us strength, and we are going to have this problem for a long time to come, but it does not have to completely distort us, and it does not have to completely dom flat oinate our policy. what we can do is to constantly fight against it. ultimately, we are going to be able to stamp it out, but it is going to take some time. wendel. >> thank you, mr. president. i wonder if i can get you to weigh in on the wisdom of building a mosque a couple of blocks from ground zero. we know that the organizers have the constitutional right. what would it say about this country if they were somehow talked out of doing that, and hasn't the florida minister's threat to burn a couple hundred copies of the koran, hasn't the threat, itself, put american lives in danger, sir? >> well, on the second, on the

second question, there's no doubt that when someone goes out of their way to be provocative in ways that we know can inflame the passions of over 1 billion muslims around the world at a time when we have our troops in a lot of muslim countries, that's a problem. it has made life a lot more difficult for our men and women in uniform who already have a difficult job. with respect to the mosque in new york. i think that i have been pretty clear on my position here. that is that this country stands for the proposition that all men and women are created equal, that they have certain inalienable rights, and one of

those inalienable rights is to practice their religion freely, and what that means is that if you could build a church on a site, you could build a synagogue on a site, if you could build a hindu temple on a site, then you should be able to build a mosque on the site. now, i recognize the extraordinary sensitivities around 9/11. i have met with families of 9/11 victims in the past. you know, i can only imagine the continuing pain and anguish and sense of loss that they may go through, and tomorrow, we as americans are going to be joining them in prayer and remembrance. but, i go back to what i said earlier, we are not at war against islam.

we are at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted islam or falsely used the banner of islam to engage in their destructive acts. we have to be clear about that. we have to be clear about that, because if we are going to deal with the problems that ed henry was talking about, and we are going to successfully reduce the terror threat, then we need all of the allies we can get. the folks who are most interested in the war between the united states or the west and islam are al qaeda. that's what they have been banking on, and fortunately, the overwhelming majority of muslims around the world are peace-loving, are interested in

the same things that you and i are interested in, how do i make sure i get a good job, how can i make sure that my kids get a decent education, how can i make sure i'm safe, how can i improve my lot in life? so they have rejected thisú violent ideology for the most part. overwhelmingly. so, from a national security interest, we want to be clear about who the enemy is here. it is a tiny handful of minority people who are engaging in horrific acts. and they have killed muslims more than anybody else. the other reason it is important for us to remember that is because we have millions of muslim americans, our fellow citizens in this country. they are going to school with our kids. they are our neighbors, our

friends, our co-workers. you know, when we start acting as if their religion is somehow offensive, what are we saying to them. i've got muslims who are fighting in afghanistan, in the uniform of the united states' armed services. they are out there putting their lives on the line for us, and we have to make sure that we are crystal clear for our sakes, and their sakes, they are americans, and we honor their service, and part of honoring their service is making sure they understand that we differentiate between them and us. it is just us. that is a principle that is, i

think, that is going to be very important for us to sustain and i think that tomorrow is an excellent time for us to reflect on that. thank you very much, everybody. that is the longest press conference of this presidency, lasting well over an hour. the president taking questions on a wide variety of subjects, jobs, and taxes and americans current feelings toward islam and the controversial issue of burning the koran by a florida pastor on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. seems that the subject he wanted to talk about was the economy and he wasted no time in the intro duct shun to talk about the role of congress and the previous administration. now we turn to david gregory moderator of "meet the press" and this is, david, his mantra leading up to the midterm elections. >> yes, it is. he makes a concession here, matt, saying that the recession is painfully slow and he is going be held accountable and so

are the democrats for the current state of the economy, but as much as he can, he is trying to bring down the rifles and the rivals are the democrats around the country, and that there is a position that goes back a decade and they are not new and a return to what has gone wrong, and that is the choice that the president has set up. they keep coming back to the painfully slow recovery and he has had some big swings here legislatively to try to turn it around. >> i want to ask you about the question he received about the heightened fear and suspicion that americans in large numbers seem to have towards muslims and islam in general. it was no accident that the words he chose. he chose to quote to words of george bush shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and we are not at war with islam, and i want to know why he chose those words and also, it is not accidental that we are accepting of all religions and as someone who relies on my own christian faith in doing my job that is

imperative. talk to me about those words. >> well, we have seen a poll of a large group of americans believing he is a muslim, and the president is a muslim, when he is not, and he is reaffirming his christian roots. so he cannot send the message of visiting a mosque because of the suspicions in the country, and he said the thing that i have never heard him say is that he admired president bush in saying that he is going to war with the terrorists and not islam. it is a small group of terrorists committing these evil acts and not make it into a larger issue. >> thank you, david gregory that is going to do it for us on this friday morning. much more on the press friday morning. much more on the press conference throughout the day. froot loops® and apple jacks, an oh-so-good source of fiber. kellogg's® makes fiber fun.

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for most of us, food is meant to be eaten and enjoyed, but a new show looks at the deeper connection between food and our lives. >> it's called "my life in food," hosted by none other than our very own al roker, who also executive produced it. the show's topics are as simple as what makes a great pizza to subjects like picky eaters and food photography. you sdploexplore the intersecti between food and photography. >> and art. and art. >> you know what, when we see all these gorgeous pictures in magazines, that doesn't just happen. it's food photographers and food stylists who really make that all happen. and that's the idea of the show, is that it's the side of food that you normally don't see.

we've got a show -- >> tonight, i think the episode is on tape, right? >> right, right. actually, tonight is about food stylists and food photographers. we even take a look at urban farming. a young woman who's got a 10,000-foot farm on the top of a rooftop and a beekeeper who keeps bees in brooklyn, in queens and manhattan on rooftops. >> do you get to eat everything? >> no. a lot of times on food photography, like for example, ice cream? they show it's actually mashed potatoes. >> oh. >> nice. >> see? you get to discover things if you watch this program. it's called "my life in food." it premieres tonight at 9:30 eastern here on the cooking annewe--l ll ct a,ually not here, but on the cooking channel. still to come on "today," football fare. when i was seventeen i was not good to my skin.

what i wouldn't do for a do-over. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena® clinical skincare helps restore collagen depleted skin to undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just 4 weeks. clinical skincare. neutrogena®. in just 4 weeks. hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. trust me. it is beyond tasty. mmm. this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! taste it, love it, or it's free!

good morning. it's 9:26 right now. i'm laura garcia canon. live pictures this morning of san bruino, where a massive fire continues to burn. it was started by a natural gas line. you see so many crews are still on the scene. we're learning 38 homes were destroyed. not the 53 originally reported. seven more have significant damage. acting governor only confirms four dead, not six. four firefighters have been taken to the hospital. all san bruino schools are closed this morning. abel maldonato just spoke with reporters. >> reporter: good morning.

i wanted to bring you the latest information. he tells me in five to ten minutes, he will sign an executive order here to try and get emergency help to all the people who are affected, all the people who lost everything. he also offered his condolences and praise to people who have been helping out here. we also, this morning, heard from pg&e, saying the source of this gas line is still unstable. right now, no gas is running through it. this is a 30-inch line about three feet deep. but people are still coming out here. they're still from ustrated. they want to know if their home is still standing this morning. here is the lieutenant governor with what he had to say. >> our hearts go out to those impacted by this horrible disaster. without warning, many of these people's lives have been changed forever. my deepest prayers go out to everyone. >> now the lieutenant governor told us that he physically wanted to walk through and see

this himself. he did that for several hours this morning, starting at 2:00 am and says he has been to many fires in his lifetime but nothing like this. he says he describes it as an absolute war zone. report live, christy smith. now back to you. >> thank you very much. we'll take a quick break and be right back. [ male announcer ] jerry brown's good old days. but what really happened? cnn -- not me -- cnn says his assertion about his tax record was "just plain wrong." jerry brown went out there and took credit for the fact that the people of california voted for proposition 13,

which lowered taxes, which he opposed. and now he's going around taking credit for it. he raised taxes as governor of california. he had a surplus when he took office and a deficit when he left. he doesn't tell the people the truth. 280 southbound, san bruino avenue and skylight boulevard, both open after overnight closures. that has cleared from that portion of the peninsula. approach slow. >> another local news update in about half an hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

bhar you going to do about it? >> what are you gonna get done? you're going to get picked up for intimidating a witness. you walk within two feet of her, you'll get ten years. you've got two strikes against you. they're going to bury you in jail. >> ben affleck's been multitasking again. he not only plays a starring role as a career criminal in his movie, but he directed the boston action thriller as well. it's called "the town" and we'll talk about why ben affleck's the talk of the town when he stops by on monday. slips right into the south boston accent. >> the buzz is great, previews on this. >> kind of violent, but -- >> but he looks like he's found

a role that is just -- >> perfect. >> anyway, look forward to seeing that. >> much more coming up in this half hour, including style. >> that's right. what's happening is that right now people are wondering what to wear over the fall season, and we've got none other than cindi leive of "glamour" magazine showing us, for example, how to wear camo with our jeans. another big fall trend is metallics and fake fur is another big trend. so, we're going to take a look at how to use that well. >> oh, it's the color camel. i've got a camel. >> good lord! if you have camel in denim, there's a problem. >> got a camel once in my pajamas. how it got there. and the cooler weather means it's football season, so if you're planning a party for the big game on nbc sunday night, our hot chef's recipe for cowboy barbecue brisket burgers and redskin chips. they are sure to swirl your

crowd. >> oh, look. >> and to get us in the football spirit, we've got one more song from sugarland. >> and we have got some redskin cheerleaders to go along with that. meantime, amy robach's here with a preview of this weekend on "today." looking trendy. >> thank you very much. put on a little jacket. hopefully, it's still in style. saturday, unfortunately, marks the ninth anniversary of the september 11th attacks. we're going to be following developments of the florida pastor whose intent to spark the koran has sparked unrest throughout the world. will he or won't he? we'll have the latest on that. and then elizabeth ann gill was just 2 years old when she disappeared from her back porch in june of 1965. her family refused to let the case die, and now 45 years later, the fbi has reopened the investigation. what made them do it? we will find out. and we're also going to be talking about milwaukee iron. harley-davidson has been an iconic milwaukee institution for 107 years, and now the city's oldest facility may move out. >> no!

>> yeah. and oprah begins her 25th and final season. what can we expect from the queen of daytime? we will have a preview when we see you this weekend on "today." so, lots to talk about. >> you have a preview of what oprah's going to be doing? >> i guess we do! we have the sneak peek. find out. >> not bad. >> human sacrifice. >> oh, no! >> only kidding. >> anyway, don't sacrifice anything. you've been telling us that the weather's going to be great this weekend? >> absolutely. in fact, much of the country -- >> part of the country. >> -- will have one day of nice weather this weekend. that's not so bad. east coast on saturday, looking great. rain, though, for the midwest on saturday, showers in the pacific northwest, sunny and hot in the southwest, down into texas. sunday, sunday, we've got more rain along the eastern seaboard, so for you on sunday, not so great. showers in the pacific northwest, but the midsection of the country from the plains all the way down to the gulf coast, sunny, warm and hot. that's what's going o watching your air quality forecast, particularly in san bruno. all green now, but that could

change as that fire continues to burn. sunny inland, getting warm. particularly south of san jose. by 4:00, warmest spot could be in fairfield. seven-day forecast looks like this. >> and of course, coming up sunday, we've been waiting for this all summer long. that's right. it's "sunday night football night in america"! roll the tape! thank you so much. we've got a big one. washington redskins, they're going to be hosting the boys, the dallas cowboys. partly cloudy, mild, temperatures in the low to mid-70s. it's all coming up on nbc "sunday night football night in america." thanks for that. >> you've still got game, al. you've got lots of game there. >> at some point, you know, we're going to have the camera

zoom in to your mouth. >> all right, thank you. coming up next, from '70s-inspired looks to hionyoucst, we're going to show for fall right tnds a for fall rightfter t ahese messages. he s great. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake. no, i've actually lost weight... [ female announcer ] over 30 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. [ wife ] babe... i gotta go. [ female announcer ] yoplait, it is so good. equals chili's $20 dinner for two. share an app, like our texas cheese fries.

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earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com. this morning on "today's style," fall fashion. fashion week is considered a very big deal here in new york city, where all the designers showcase the collections that you'll be seeing in stores about six months from now. so, we went behind the scenes at fashion week last february with "glamour outside magazine's editor in chief cindi leive, who's checking out the looks for fall. ♪

>> the last show of new york fashion week was a tommy hilfiger show. it's been a whirlwind this week, and this show has particular significance because it is the last show to be held here in the bryant park where the shows have been for ages. we move up next season to lincoln center. so, this show has some special, sort of sentimental value. there are a number of trends that have bubbled to the surface so far in new york fashion week. we're looking at metallics. this is something that's been in the stores for a while -- gold, silver, copper, bronze. the difference, is you're wearing them for day. we saw this at a number of different shows -- tory burch, vera wang, isaac mizrahi. you're taking the metallic stuff and not just wearing it out at night. you're wearing it potentially to work with a great little camel-colored coat over it. another trend we're seeing for fall is neutrals, and i'm not talking black and navy and gray, although those are still fine. the big trend is towards camel-colored clothes. we're seeing a lot of denim, a lot of fringe, a little leather, cowgirl shades of shirts

everywhere from derek lam to lots of other places. it's been a wild west frontier on the runway this week, and it's a very wearable trend, so i'm all for it. another trend we're seeing, furry touches, neutral-colored or brightly vivid yellow or blue, everything from coats to fur showing up on boots, on bags, little bits at the neck, around the wrist, fur piled on top of fur. if you like the soft stuff, you're going to be happy. >> and cindi leive is "glamour's" editor in chief and joins us now. that was really fun to watch. >> thanks, ann. >> it's interesting to see how these might work. this is what the designers hope will be a trend. that's the unveiling. >> right. we see the stuff at the shows and wait to see what makes it in the stores. those clothes are now in the stores and showing up on women everywhere. >> let's take a look at one of these runway trends, metallic, and kara is our model today. hello, kara. >> i love her dress. this is a little silver dress. and one thing that you notice about it by the way, is that it's not super bright.

these metallics become much more wearable for day, as she's wearing hers here. it's more textured, more subtle in the shine. this, by the way, is $20 from h&m, which is an amazing price. >> so, there already are knock-offs of the trends on the runways. >> you're seeing metallicst everywhere. i mean, you know, every price point. highest end designer and very affordable things you can find at the mall. i like this idea of pairing it with black, putting it with flats. it makes it more casual, you know. it doesn't feel sort of out on the red carpet as it might. >> does this mean that the all black, dark leg is still in fashion this year? >> yes, you can still do that, and i intend to. >> kara -- me, too. it's fun. kara, thank you so much this morning. now we've got tina wearing the camel and denim pairing. >> yeah. you're going to hear the word camel a lot with fashions for fall. and we're not talking about the animal. we are talking about the color, just to be clear. so, this is a great sweater. what's new here is that you're wearing it with denim. it's a very all-american look. this reminds me of those supermodels from the '70s,

lauren hutton and the old charlie fragrance ads. it feels very relaxed but still kind of put together. one interesting point is that you can see she's actually mixing her shades of camel. the shoes don't match the sweater exactly, and that's good, you know. otherwise, it gets a little too matchy-matchy. >> so, actually, exactly, that seems like it's more liberating. does it need to always be in this kind of a preppie look or can it be used in a different way? >> you can do it with everything. i think this sweater would be great over a sparkly dress. so if you have a dress and want to mix it with something camel colored, that would be spectate lar. >> you've got it going on. thank you. now we've got a third fall trend, called fake fur. we've got jessica is our model. >> yeah there. was so much fur on the runway, ann. i counted one day there was seven straight shows where we saw fur, but one nice thing was a lot of faux fur. if you don't like real fur because of cost or ethical reasons, there's a lot of great-looking stuff out there. i love the idea of a vest because it's more casual, looks

a little younger and more fun than a full-on fur coat, which can make you feel like chu backa. i think this is a great find and this is from bb dakota and it's $75. >> you could zip it around. i wonder if you could belt that. >> you could belt it, wear it over a short-sleeve top for a rock and roll look for evening. you could easily put it over a turtleneck and jeans on a saturday morning. there's a lot you could do with it. >> terrific. thank you very much. we'll bring all of our models out for one last look as we talk about what people are looking for. they can save a lot of money and you're talking about looks that will be affordable. >> and these looks will pay you back because you can wear them with things already in your closet. they're super versatile. >> cindi leive, thank you very much. i know you're running around for fashion week for this coming spring. >> that's right. looking into my crystal ball. >> but thank you very much for joining us. coming up next, nothing goes better with football than party food and we have got some fan vori rmessecages. ahese messages. via is better than ever!

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introducing total plus omega-3 honey almond flax cereal. all the nutrition of total, plus 10% daily value omega-3 ala, and a delicious honey almond crunch. new total plus omega-3. >> announcer: "today kicks off" it brought you by verizon, official wireless service provider of the nfl. >> whether you're a cowboy or redskin, we're kicking off sunday night football with some party foods sure to score with your guest. we have the executive chef of bill's bar and burger restaurant which opens in a couple of weeks right here. good to see you.

brett. when's the restaurant open up? >> we're opening in two weeks across the plaza on 51st street. >> can't wait. >> we're excited to be here. >> the burger you guys make, one of them? >> this is actually -- we created this for the dallas cowboys. we're kicking off your sunday night football theme with the dallas cowboys burger. we did an extra large eight-ounce burger for the big stadium they built out there. >> what's the meat? >> we're doing a blend of brisket, chuck and a little short ribs. a little extra fat and meaty flavors for you. >> okay. so, you start off with -- >> start with an eight-ounce patty, simply seasoning with salt and pepper. >> right. >> all right. we're going to put these on the grill. the key to a great burger is simply -- whoops! >> don't try to get away! >> it's fresh, very fresh. simply caramelized, nice and juicy on the inside. >> right. >> crispy on the outside. >> okay. what makes this texas? >> well, texas is brisket. we went with the barbecue theme on this one, so we're doing a burger topped with brisket and a wildwood barbecue sauce. >> ooh. >> barbecue sauce is flavored

with cumin, chilies, peppers, a little molasses. >> right. >> and what we're doing is slicing our briskets. this takes 12 hours to cook. we cook it overnight. have a guy stoking the wood all night long. if you don't have time to do that -- although every self-respecting texas man would be smoking his brisket -- you could use pastrami, something quicker. >> let's head back here. you've got a nice little redskins redskin potatoes. >> yep. we're doing it for the washington redskins, we're doing redskin chili chips. >> ooh. >> so, we're making a fresh potato chips. >> using a mandolin here? >> using a mandolin. be very careful at home. we'll cut them an eighth of an inch thick. we keep them soaked in water overnight. >> how come. >> so, a, they don't turn brown, and b, they take a little starch out. they'll crisp up for you nicer. >> okay. >> we'll take those out, drain them off really well and assemble our chips. >> okay. >> we have a beautiful basket of

chips here. >> we'll grab some. >> al, go crazy and have fun because it's all about having fun. we're going to start with some chili. this is bhaed a little bit of beans. there's a little bit of pork in there, there's beef, lots of cumin and spices, a little chipotle powder. we're going to really slather that on there. you're going to hit it with come sm cheddar cheese. i like a lot of cheddar, so we're going to sprinkle that on there nicely, all right? obviously, you do, too? >> yes, i do. >> and here we go with a little bit of sour cream. that's not enough. a little more. >> a little more. >> all right? >> yeah. >> and this is our redskin chili chips. >> wow. i don't know which one scores higher. >> i'm thinking we're going to need both, but we're going to score right here. i mean, it doesn't get much better. >> brett, thank you so much. of course, we remind you, sunday night football returns as the washington redskins host tony romo and the dallas cowboys. coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern with nbc's "football night in america," but you'll want to start eating at about

6:00. up next, getting in the game day spirit with one more song from sugarland. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts.

world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

♪ and still to come, the results. >> performing here stopping by. >> but here they are again, sugarland, singing their song especially for the nfl on nbc "waiting all day for sunday night." ♪ ♪ oh, ay, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ all right, sunday night, where are you, waiting on the gang, red, white and blue ♪ ♪ you say you want football, baby, we want it too ♪

♪ hey, jack, it's a fact, the show's in town, a big ball season is about to go down ♪ ♪ the stadium's rockin', time to crank up the sound ♪ ♪ the nfl always comes to play, coast to coast, you'll hear everybody say ♪ ♪ i've been waiting all day for sunday night, get on your feet, they're all ready to fight ♪ ♪ more than a game, it's america's ride, that's why we're waiting all day for sunday night ♪ ♪ oh, ay, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ oh, ay, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ sunday night football on nbc, al and chris are gonna rock the tv ♪ ♪ the stops are all out, the place that you want to be ♪ ♪ because the nfl rocks on nbc

♪ >> yeah! [ cheers and applause ] !% [ male announcer ] jerry brown's good old days. but what really happened?

cnn -- not me -- cnn says his assertion about his tax record was "just plain wrong." jerry brown went out there and took credit for the fact that the people of california voted for proposition 13, which lowered taxes, which he opposed. and now he's going around taking credit for it. he raised taxes as governor of california. he had a surplus when he took office and a deficit when he left. he doesn't tell the people the truth. . live in san bruno with the latest on this devastating gas pipeline explosion and fiery live pictures to take you to right now from the chopper. firefighters at first light able

to get a firsthand look at how devastating this fire is. latest confirmed numbers, four people dead. more than 50 homes destroyed, more than 100 homes badly damaged in this fire. watching these pictures, you may want to help. the red cross says there are some things they do and do not want you to do. they do not want you to come here to the scene. it is overrun with emergency personnel. they do want you to give cash. they're not prepared right now to handle material goods. finally, they do want you to donate blood. blood centers of the pacific are opening late and on this weekend to take donations, particularly o negative blood is needed. you can reach them at 888-393-give. there are traffic considerations, road closures in the area. >> thank you, garvin. surface streets right there at the center of the activity, those are still closed. skyline boulevard was reopened as well as the san bruno exit and skyline boulevard exit. the slowing we saw on 280 has

been cleared. a little slowing southbound 101 through san mateo. a big issue is as you're headed northbound 880 coming through, 101 coming through san jose, there's an accident at oakland road, causing late slowing northbound all the way up past san jose international airport. not a major issue. hayward has mild slowing approaching the san mateo bridge, approaching the bay bridge, east shore freeway. live look at oakland past the coliseum shows you heavier volume starting to ease past high street. sun in the skies. things are looking good throughout livermore. here is your seven-day forecast. we return to the "today" show in just a bit.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power

and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again. captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hi, everybody. it is dry day, but that doesn't stop us around here. it's the 10th of september, and hoda is honoring grandz parents day this coming sunday. we're not going to be dry. >> we're going to toast the grandparents. >> i'm a grandmother. the minute i married frank i was a grand marry. i'm almost a great-grandmother any minute approximate now. more than 3 million kids are raised by grarnd parents now. >> they say grandparents are now

living in the home with their families because of the economy and other things, so it makes sense that grandparents are doing some of the raising. >> a lot of troops deployed to iraq and afghanistan, they move in with grandparents. >> i'm a little bleery-eyed this morning. guess who was on tv last night? the saints. >> it was a great game. it wasn't great, actually. it was frustrating. it was 14-9, but they ended up winning. it was so glorious. we can't show footage of the nfl games because of all these rules, but the bottom line is saints are great and the vikings aren't. >> how did brett favre look? >> he wasn't any good. he was hurt, though, right? zo . >> i don't know. whining. when you're shot up with a lubricant before you go out there. frank tells me the stories of what they did.

you'd get a cleat right into your foe, and they'd just numb it -- they would rip off your toenail on the sideline, because you couldn't play otherwise. they didn't have a gazillion guys on the team. have you ever seen frank's feet? >> he has bad feet. i saw them on the at the pool. >> the great players in the hall of fame have bad feet like ballerinas. >> he's a sexy one. we had sugarland outside because it's friday. they play a lot of great songs, but this is one of their football songs. let's crank it. ♪ where are you ♪ >> every time i hear her sing, i'm so surprised. the voice that comes out of her is so different than what she looks. doesn't she like olivia newton-john a little bit?

>> here's the chorus that we love. ♪ nfl always comes to play ♪ you get every night play >> it is the weekend. if any of you guys are planning on going out there and putting the moving on particular ladies, you got to know what moves to make, you know? >> it's critical. >> i was just thinking of your dancing. i wonder if you're doing it right. careful. >> all right. so this has happened to me. i dated someone and then they started dancing. >> it's like that seinfeld episode. >> you cannot erase the image. it's seared forever. >> you going to name name science. >> no. they did a study on dance moves

so show the right way and wrong way to do the dance move. we had these two avatars. the guy on the right apparently is right way. they like the arm movement, the body movement. >> i find that -- that would be the biggest turnoff in the world to me. >> the one on the left isn't doing anything, but i like him more. don't you? >> i do, too. >> we have jonathan, and jonathan, we've told him this story for a while. >> okay. >> jonathan is doing -- >> that's the bad. >> okay. all right, jonathan, you've proven that's bad. >> show us the avatar for the good, please. let's see the good stuff. >> oh, no. stop it. it's seared in my memory. >> oh, my gosh. that's spaz dancing. that's not good.

>> here's my opinion on dancing. jonathan, thank you. he's been scared for three days. >> i know. yay for jonathan. >> you are adorable, jonathan. we love you. we didn't think we were going to. when adam left, you know, we weren't sure, but doggone it we are crazy about you now. the other good news, and this is good news for you hoda, apparently fat guys make better lovers. >> i've known that. no, i've known that. i've known that. >> there was a year-long study. tell me why. >> they conducted this in turkey. i don't know what that has to do with anything. they found out men with higher body mass last longer performan performance-wise than skinnier mans. they last an average of 7 plt 3 minutes while slender men lasted 1 minute and 48 seconds.

it's because -- this is gross. fat men have more female hormones. >> that's not it. no. >> naets whthat's what they say. >> i'll tell you what it is. the reason that fat men are better lovers than skinny men is because we feel sexier around a fat guy because you're not so self-conscious. >> no. i know what it is. >> lelt me finish. when you're with a guy chiseling, is he feeling that. when you're with a guy that's fat, he's so lucky to be with you, that's what i'm saying. so that's why it goes on and on. >> when you're with a chiseled guy you feel grateful to be with him. >> i'm embarrassed. >> when you're with the other guy, he feels grateful to be with anybody. >> yes. so that's the point. that was the point. >> the study makes perfect sense. >> we doenlt make this up. we have to the comment on this because we are nbc news.

zu g >> you guys have asked us about the bite app. 80 bites it's called. this isn't working. it's broken. there's an app you can get. the reason you were so interested in this every time you take a bite of food, you're supposed to push a button that says bite, and it counts so you don't mindlessly eat. >> i understand the concept in general, but here's the thing. if you're eating 80 bits of carrots or 80 bites of your mothers baklava, it's a completely different thing going in your body. >> whether i'm on a couch -- >> different kind of -- >> when i'm on -- >> the other one. >> whether in i'm on the couch sometimes i walk tv and there's a bag of doritos there and at the end of the program there's none there.

i can't remember i've eaten them all. you're on the phone. did i finish the whole -- it hits me like that, so i think the bite app might be good. >> we have ali landry on the show today. wasn't she the doritos girl? >> no. we have ali larter. excuse me. >> speaking of that, we're talking about best cities for happy hour, okay? the best cities. >> get back. >> number five on the list of best cities for happy hour, new york. >> i thought it was portland. >> that's number five. number four is seattle, washington. number three, san diego, california. >> i love san diego. >> the second most popular city for happy hour is washington, d.c. and the number one -- which i already gave away -- >> yes, you did. portland, oregon. >> it's not how many drinks but it's also how good their happy hours are.

they're starting to have happy hour later in the evening and we call that happier hour. and then happiest is closing time i suppose. it's a little out of control. >> it is. what makes us very happy? b bobbie thomas. >> i don't know how i can follow your advice or jonathan's dancing but i will try. today is fashion's night out. not only here in new york city but all over the world and go to fashionnightout.com to find out what's happening. it's a big event to help boost the economy. she's going to save us all with fashion. it's all about friendship and fashion. i'm wearing an official fashion t-shirt which if anyone can get online. blooming daily's has celebrity signed tees online. this is by ralph lauren one of your personal favs. if you're here in new york city, i'm excited about this. i'm so excited to be part of

this. andre and michael fink the scad prison is at dylan's candy bar with me. there are six of these amazing creations. go online and help me pick one to pick, that's great. i have all the information, and then i'll be at rebecca taylor hosting cupcakes and cocktails. >> how is fashion week for you? do you sprint all over the place? >> it's just starting, and it's not that crazy. it's actually a time where we're working to -- i find myself online more to be honest. >> all right. i wish we could see some of your dance moves, bobbie. >> you know she has some, too. >> it's another ali. i'm sorry. >> her very unpregnant-like behavior. >> that's how she got pregnant, hoda. >> we'll explain right after this. [ female announcer ] so you thought you had a handle on your period.

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former heroes star ali larter reprises her role in the fourth installment of "resident evil." this time there's an added dimension of the 3d, which will change everything. >> in this film she kicks zombie and ax man butt during her small pa part. >> you are six months pregnant. >> i am. >> she's having a -- >> boy. it's so hard. i was in tokyo on a press tour. i did 30 interviews a day. i'm in a twilight zone, and i slipped somewhere and he, and it's too much pressure. i'm just happy to be having a boy, and let the story just go away. >> it won't go away. >> getting into it now a little bit. it's so exciting that i've been feeling good.

>> you look beautiful. >> thank you. dell us about baby's daddy. >> he's an amazing man. file really lucky. we got married in august and he's shooting an nbc show, "perfect couples." >> he's an actor? >> he's an akctor. >> you have the next installment of the movie. tell us about that. >> whenever you do a fourth of any franchise, you have to have something new and different. we were the first movie to get the cameras after avatar. this is a whole other level. it was shot with these cameras and a surreal experience. it's not for pregnant. right after we got very busy. >> did you do your own stunts and everything in this movie? >> i did. it's part of the fun for me. i love to play sports and work with stunt koocoordinators and weapons experts.

>> you talk about your childhood and how your mom was a stay at home mom. what's the plan? >> after this i'm going home to take the next couple months after and get ready and then i'm going to broadway, which is just -- >> how soon after the baby is born? >> i hope i get at least three months, but it may be two months with a newborn coming to new york. i'm so excited to get into a new chapter of my life with a new baby. >> have you done theater? it's like nothing else. even 3d, because you're in front of a green screen so much of the time. you have all these breathing, wonderful people out there watching you. >> i've been playing action parts for the last five years and since i've been pregnant i fell feminine, so i'm excited to see what this new chapter has

and how it changes my work. >> it's going to change everything. your whole life. >> you're a working mom, right? >> hoda is practically to hanna. you adore that baby. it can be done, but it's always prioritizing. we wish you great luck with everything. >> thank you. >> great to see you. >> thank you so much. >> all happiness. she can't rubbing her belly. >> i love it. >> "resident evil" is in theaters today. danny shows us how to do that. >> he has the courage to come back after what we did lae? t last time? good for him. activia is better than ever! hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? today is your tasty lucky day! sure, why not? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. okay! mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i love it! mmm, this is really good!

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there's no question it's time to head back to school, which means taking your place in line at the local school supply shop. >> if the high cost has dpo got you done danny says don't fret, there's a lot to do with those supplies whether the kids are done with them if you up cycle. he writes about it on his blog, dai dailydanny.com. >> so glad the kids are back in school. >> you don't like children? >> nice way to start the segment. >> you're first item involved a pliers and keyboard. >> it says kathie lee right here. we're going to upcycle these bore i black journals, you can customize them into he mosaic journals. this is hoda's. this is for boef of you.

>> is it tough to get the keys off. >> the hardest is the first one. it's scary what you find inside. >> i bet. >> what you want to do after that, this is a cutter you find at the hardware store because there's pressers here. you want it to be flat here. you just go inside and cut it off. it's simple. it's so simple to do this. you save it and spell different words and hot glue gun them onto the journal. >> how could people like you have a show before there was hot glue? >> it is like my crack. >> okay. hey, everybody has to have something. >> it's so simple. it's like a black journal for black keys. it's so simple. >> covering your pencils. >> the boring pencils. if you have regular yellow pencils and one with different hotel names that you collect, just get some paper.

this is beautiful paper. >> danny does that. >> danny steals things. >> at least you're not on crack. >> these are basic beautiful scrap papers at michael's. you take a little bit of this regular glue and you just run it along the edge of the paper like this. it's as simple as gluing this onto a pencil and letting it gri. >> what about when you need to sharpen it. >> it does it regularly. it's like rolling a cigar. so kind of fun. this one is more challenging. i wasn't sure if you'd like this. we all have phone books. >> i can't believe they still do it. >> that goes through that? >> stheez are clamps. >> i was going to say, wow. >> you want to take a straight edge like this, and it takes time. you cut it in half with an exact-o knife. i think it's broke. and then you take your time and cut across the phone book and go

through a couple of pages at a time. remember we had book visors so you want to keep cutting. >> yes. >> when your done you take your hot glue gun and take sections and fold them in and glue them into sections and you end up with a phone book organizer. >> stop it. that's interesting. >> stop it, danny. >> for a kids room and craft room. >> they cute. this is just a fun thing. if you have a phone book, you make two of them right away. >> have a lot of time because it takes a while. >> five minutes to cut through that. you know the old high school and make your kids got new ones and this one says kathie lee loves danny. hoda loves danny. you can upcycle the three-ring binders into a take menu cover. have all your take outmenus with the inside and kor it with

contact paper. >> that's not expensive, is it? >> it's so inexpensive. you cut it with scissors by measures the dimension of the actual folder and peel off the contact paper and you're done. the best part is you can stick things onto the corkboard. >> that's very cute. >> kids'' t-shirts grow up, adorable t-shirts make pieces of art out of them. you run is across the back and staple gun it. >> very cute, danny. much better than the last time. really good. >> still to come, the results of our plaza ambush makeovers. >> would you be your mom or their friend? stay tuned. dancing there? flying there? how about eating soup to get there? delicious campbell's soups fill you with good nutrition, energy,

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they're the cereals your kids love and the fiber their tummies love... which makes for a whole lotta happy. froot loops® and apple jacks, an oh-so-good source of fiber. kellogg's® makes fiber fun. good morning. it's 10:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. update from one of the hospitals where four of the survivors of the big explosion that leveled a neighborhood are being treated. meanwhile, crews have the massive fire 75% contained. 38 homes are destroyed. seven others have significant damage. acting governor abel maldonato also confirms four dead. live in san bruno, where people are waiting for word on their homes, good morning, garvin. >> reporter: laura, most of them are waiting just this side of that yellow tape beside me, one

of the last checkpoints before you get to the fire area. we met a gentleman this morning, who wanted to get 100 yards up this road, a clearing where he would be able to see across the canyon, see if his house survived or not but the police wouldn't let him. a house, of course, he fled last night in front of what he called a wall of flame. not too long after that, one of the neighbors in the area allowed him into the backyard, he was able to look over that canyon, and yes, he could actually see at least part of his house, saw that it was still standing. he still desperately wants to get close to his home. aps wife and three children he left at a relative's house this morning. he wants to return to them with some idea how much, if any rebuilding, they are going to have to do in this situation. reporting live from san bruno, garvin thomas, nbc today in the bay. >> thank you very much. can't imagine what he's going through mplt live look outside at oakland, moving smooth. we'll check the commute after this. [ male announcer ] jerry brown's good old days.

but what really happened? cnn -- not me -- cnn says his assertion about his tax record was "just plain wrong." jerry brown went out there and took credit for the fact that the people of california voted for proposition 13, which lowered taxes, which he opposed. and now he's going around taking credit for it. he raised taxes as governor of california. he had a surplus when he took office and a deficit when he left. he doesn't tell the people the truth.

welcome back. over 45 minutes, northbound 101 jammed heading up toward oakland at 13th, an accident there. now on the shoulder. that is your sticky spot, slow spot for the south bay. most of the northbound routes moving much better. southbound 101, 280, issue through san bruno. skyline boulevard opened overnight. do not head to the area of that explosion unless you are absolutely directed to do so, because of all the activity there. activity at the bay bridge as well, backup to the bend.

keep that in mind. more folks are headed to the city because of weekend festivities. >> taking a look at the seven-day forecast, loogs pretty good in the weather department, too. look at the temperaretu jngpium up to the mid 80s. it's dry day, and it's time for today's plaza ambush makeover results. >> i'm sorry. louis vacarri and jill martin plucked two more women from the plaza and spent the last three hours working with the teams to make the ladies lovelier than they were when they got here. welcome to fridays, kids. how was it out there? >> it was great. we have this great group of people because sugarland was here, of course. a huge fan base, and we had so many women to pick from. >> it was. let's start with the first one. vivian lawrence is 51 years old from howell, new jersey.

her two kids are in college and she's looking for a job and wanted a brand-new look and is here with her friend claire who we ambushed last year. take a listen. >> claire, you know the drill because you went through this in may and now you want it for your friend, vivian. tell us why. >> because it was an amazing experience. it really made such a difference in my life, and vivian needs a little change and a new life and a new look and a new job. she's an empty nester, too. >> you're going through a divorce. you need a whole new start. how important is this for you? >> it's really important for me. i need a boost in my life. it's a help for me looking for a job. >> we're ready to pamper you. are you ready to go? >> yes, i am. thank you. >> vivian is ready to go, and joining us is claire, the makeover held. we're going to show the br picture and keep your blindfold

on, claire. here's the before picture of vivian. let's see the new you. >> yeah. >> wow, wow, wow. are you ready claire? take your blindfold off and look at your friend. hello. now you want to see yourself? look right here. >> oh, my god. >> look at that sexy hair-do! tell us about the hair, louis. >> vivian, classic problem. fine hair. so jennifer lawrence gave her this great blunt cut which make her hair look twice as thick. i put the color back in her hair. she had gray hair with highlights that made it look more gray. washed it away. the haircut and hair color working together, you look ten years younger. congratulations. >> she looks fabulous! >> you look great. >> wow. what do you think, by the way? >> wow. >> i love it.

>> they did a very good job. >> i wanted to prpt some of the trends for fall obviously, so metallic. can you wear navy and black together? you can. that's a navy jacket. it's available at macy's and open toe shoes can you wear nem in the fall going into winter, the answer is yes. >> when it starts to snow, you can't. >> big rounds of applause for vivian. >> this is emily barker from clifton, virginia. she spent the past two years teaching high school freshman. she's never colored her friend before and never wears makeup. she's here with the friend, joy. let's listen to her story. >> all right. we sort of bullied emily into doing this, but joy is on our team. tell us why you want her to have a makeover. >> she needs to spice it up a

little for her wonderful boyfriend. >> it's back-to-school time? >> we've had one day and going back again on monday. >> are you ready to be the hottest teacher in america? >> i am, yes. >> joy has her blindfold on. one last look at emily, and now let's bring out the new emily barker. >> emily has never worn high heels before. you look great. joy, are you ready to see her. okay. >> oh, my god. you look amazing. >> you ready to look? turn around, doll. hilary swank here. >> it looks awesome. what do you think? >> it's so amazing. i love it. >> look at the split screen. oh, my gosh. i wish you could have seen her walking out in the heels. >> she needs to practice. >> right now "mad men" is the

biggest influence on fashion and beauty right now. this is what inspired us here. so we gave her this very sheik sort of '50sesque hairstyle, beautiful, soft makeup. very classic. again, all the makeup today is done by dena o. she could have been a redhead, but i chose to go blonde. >> they could have. >> what about this outfit? it's so pretty. >> i wanted to update her school outfit, so this is calvin klein. it has pockets. it's a huge trends because people have so many badge jepts she wants to hold. this is a sleek leak that's functional so available at macy's. >> how do you like it, joy? >> she looks amazing. i have to accept up my game now. >> come on out, vivian. >> if you want to land in the hands of louis and jill try your

luck on friday mornings on the pla plaza. >> friend or mother? do you have to chose? >> yes, you do. [ female announcer ] introducing granola thins. new from nature valley. delicious granola squares lightly toasted for a delicate crispy crunch. layered with creamy peanut butter or rich dark chocolate flavor. an irresistible, melt-in-your-mouth taste... ♪ and nature approves. new nature valley granola thins. nature at its most delicious. [ female announcer ] only roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream is clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin.

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the answer to is she your mom or your best friend? earlier today we launched a three-part series taking a closer look at the dynamic. >> janet taylor is a psychiatrist as well as a mother of four. wow. four girls, then you should know. >> they told me you are not my best friend. >> the relationship with mother and daughter can be complicated, can't it? >> it's your first relationship. that bond with your mother is your first attachment and influences all your other relationships base odd how well you bonded and were taken care of by your mother. >> that bothers me about the term best friend is the adjective is the best part. you want to be friendly with your child. you want to have a relationship that's fun. my daughter is 17 now, and when we go to lunch and out shopping or something, it is just a blessing. we have so much fun. she shouldn't be confiding in me everything, should she? >> not everything. honestly, it's great to have a truthful relationship and you

want your daughter to talk to you, but your daughter especially as as less sents and teenagers, don't need a friend but a parent. friendly is great because they're interesting and engaging. on the other hand you need a mom to teach you boundaries, and have limits and say no and teach you about what's valuable and what values are and what your beliefs are in your life. that's the difference between a friends and moa mom, and that's what you have to do. >> you go from being mother/daughter to when you start being friends. early on it's important to keep the boundaries clear, right? >> it's nearly impossible. as a toddler it's heart and as a teenager you cannot be the best friend because i need to say no and where are you going and those hard things most friends don't do. >> the friends i have who has trouble, real trouble with thirteen atheir teenagers now, they're trying to be a friend. >> they definitely want

boundaries. i've heard about moms who compete with their daughters about what size jeans they can wear. your teens don't need that. what happens in the mother/daughter relationship yushgs teens are struggling for identity and they need you to help shape that. the relationship with the mother is so important, and you don't want to discount that. >> if you stepped over the line and tur friendly with your daughter, there a one to unring the bell or has it been set? >> here's the thing. you can constantly shape your relationship, so once you recognize there's always an opportunity to pull it back. if you've been too friend lishgs hopefully you have enough lie dog to talk about -- because of how i was raised and wanted to be, it's not working for us. let's talk about what we need to change. so make it the two of you and figure out rules that work for both of you. at the end of the day raising as less sents and young adults you, you can't constantly say let's do it. >> you try to teach your

children to say i'm sorry, and we as parents need to say we're sorry, too, because we make mistakes. it's inkrcredible how forgiving kids are. >> they don't expect parents to be perfect. you hope for skint. at the end of the day you need love, respect and good modeling so we can raise excellent adults and mothers. >> you want your kids to divide in you. there's such a distance you don't feel safe, so how can you bridge that gap? if you've laid down the law and the child won't tell you about the date she was on what she was doing and where she was doing. >> if you want your daughters and sons to confide in you, as a parent you have to learn to just zip it, hold your breath and listen. when your kids talk to you, they don't want you to give commentary or be judgmental. they want you to listen. so when you're driving the car and hearing thing like the temptation to turn around and interject and listen to when your teens are talking.

>> thanks very much. our job as a parent is to instill values into our child. don't leave it up to the schools or anybody else. that's our number one job besides keeping them safe. coming up next, we'll show you how to score the best for sunday's kickoff right after. this. >> look at jerry. flatbread crisps.ven-bd ♪ with the tastes of sea salt and olive oil. ♪ or sprinkled with italian herbs. ♪ townhouse flatbread crisps. they're perfect for snack time, party time, any time. ♪ new townhouse flatbread crisps. the everyday cracker with the specially-crafted taste. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel,

the one kids want to eat. [ speaking spanish ] ♪ [ male announcer ] old el paso stand 'n stuff taco shells. old el paso. feed your fiesta.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created.

california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

brought to you by verizon official wireless service provider of the nfl. okay. it's officially football season. i'm going to be out at the giants opener on sunday, and we're kicking it off with great gear and grub, the winning combo for the ultimate tailgate party. >> jean benedict is the hope of entertaining and she's here to show us how it's done the right way. >> beverages, i see. >> we're kicking it off with the

beverages, hot products to amp up the tailgate. go ahead and have a margarita there, and i think you'll taste it's totally restaurant quality. they're made with this margaritaville frozen concoction maker machine. cordless. big deal. very popular. you can make up to 60 drirn 0 d one. it shaves the ice as it blends. >> it doesn't get all mushy. >> if it didn't have 500 calories, i'll drink the whole thing. >> how much does it cost? >> this is 2$299. if you want a cold one, that's the tub cooler that holds 72 can, bottles and ice and folds up and sets up in seconds. from the cooler to the magnetic ko koozie. where's the saints one? i don't want it. sorry. >> houston texas. >> put it right on the side of a

car. great idea. >> that's so funny. >> this is from americantailgat americantailgater.com. you can get a four-pack. >> i can do all my christmas shopping right here. this is a ring bottle opener. >> that's fantastic. >> this is for college kids. >> i can't get it off now. >> that's hilarious. >> when you do your cans and bottles, you want to recycle and duke it in style. these are pop-up trash and recycling bins. let me show you. they compaq kajed flat. great space savor in ter in the. they have the officials licensed nfl design there. they're $4 for the regular bins or a little more for the logos. this table is multifunctional. they're a beanbag toss or table. you can make it flat or put it together. >> play a few games on here? >> 169.99 at

tailgatingfanatic.com. fab fabulous stable spread. personalized new york giants. >> is there a frank gifford in there? >> there is. this is my m&m's.com. >> you can get them personalized for any team? >> yourself or other birthday parties. secret recipe caramel and robust cheese and all natural butter and 39.99 at the popcorn factory. fire up the grill. it's awesome. we wanted to give your viewers a lot. this is their q series portable gas grill. push button ignition. these work tables are great and fold up and it's possibrtable. there's an jausable burn valve like the stove. this is 189 at weber. this is a great price.

these are really great. this is the all in one chair. it's a transport system, it's a chair and it's a cooler at americantailgater.com. >> and a port-o-potty. >> you're watching the football game. 49.95. spectator bench folds up, $25. >> and she's great, by the way. you're amazing. you are amazing. >> thank you. in just minutes, we'll get an update on the condition of four burn victims injured in last night's deadly explosion in san bruno. flames fueled by a ruptured gas line ripped through this neighborhood, killing four people and destroying 38 homes. we're updating

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but what were the results? fact: brown promised to improve schools. but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now.

a little remindzer, tune into "stand up to cancer" at 8:00 eastern tonight. a lot of journalists and musicians and a great way to find awareness for a cure for cancer. >> robert plant and kneel sedaka and how to put an end to morning mania in your house. have an awesome weekend, mania in your house. have an awesome weekend, everybody.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it's all right september 7th. how can that be? >> there's bouncing around and jiggling. >> that was not a love scene. that i was sex scene. >> jamie lee curtis is here. activa. >> that's none of your business. doesn't wear under wear, all right. >> they're just flaunting it, baby. >> that's odd because you see your -- >> it comes through. comes through stark naked. is this safe sex? >> guys turn to alcohol and gambling and whatever, hookers. >> awesome! >> we love it. >> you can't polish a turd. i'm embarrassed you said that on television. >> i love it.

>> oh, my god. maybe it really is a hoda curse.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power